Busted! News Flubs the Dub

Earlier this month, News reported that Felicia Stancil was the only rider at the recent 2010 UCI BMX World Championships to score double wins. In fact, the gate just before Felicia (on both class and cruiser), held double wins as well, in the person of Harriet Burbidge-Smith from Australia. The 14-year old Crupi cranker unclipped out of the gate in her class main, but got it together in time to make some serious comeback yardage on the first straight. It was all her after that.

In her cruiser main, she got out clean, and had the pull down the first straight on Hannah Sarten from New Zealand. Sarten took control of the race in the first turn, but Harriet mounted an impressive charge out of the second turn, and some rockin in the rhythm put HBS back on the box for the cruiser podium. Both mains held some killer racing, and we definitely want to congratulate Harriett on her double– tardy, though it may be.

Check out both of Harriet’s main laps on bmx-videos.com

—Mike Carruth

Strombergs and Reade top Elite Podiums at Worlds

An amazing day of racing down in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa today, as the Championship classes.

In Junior Women, Redline/Dutch team star Merle Van Benthem had great finishes in the motos, and got out to a rippin holeshot in the main. Brooke Crain of the USA rode her Clayborn to a profoundly-impressive second place. Melinda McCleod got the right step.

Junior Men had some massive back & forth, and it turned out much different than even the best oddsmakers would have pegged it. Sylvian Andre from France won the Time Trials, with Connor Fields and Corben Sharrah in second an third. Everyone was expecting those three would battle hard when they finally found themselves in the main event gate. Unfortunately, Corben over-jumped one of the sets on the second straight, and was out in the Semis. In the Junior Men Main, Connor had it all the way, with a commanding lead down both the first and second straights. He seemed to bobble a little coming into the third straight, and lost control, taking him out of the race. In the end, it was Andre, Kristers Lejins of Latvia and Twan van Gendt of the Netherlands.

Elite Women provided an opportunity for Shanaze Reade to get her stripes back. After sitting out the 2009 season, it would be a main event showdown between her, Laeticia leCorguillé, and the 2009 champ, Sarah Walker. Also in the mix were two of Team USA’s finest, Arielle Martin and Alise Post. Reade got out clean, and went to the front quick, with Post keeping a quick pace behind her. Walker was way up in it too going into the first turn, and it came out of turn two as Reade, Walker, Post (martin had trouble in turn one and was out of it after that). At the line, it was Reade, Walker and Post on the podium.

The final main of the day would be spring-loaded with excitement, as the top eight of the 80 Elite Men gated up for the final, and most important lap of the day. Maris Strombergs was certainly a favorite–having chose gate 8 the whole day, and acing every lap from out there. A special energy flowed through Sifiso Nhlapo, as the only South African Elite to make the main on his home turf. Also going incredibly fast was Sam Willoughby, Khalen Young and Marc Willers. it was 6-5 and pick ‘em between Sam and Maris, as those were the favored top steppers going in to the gate drop. Without seeing a replay, it was tough to know what happened in turn one, but KY, Sam and Willers all got together and were out of the race. Maris was already far ahead of them and was never in any jeopardy. Sifiso held the second pretty much the whole way, but there were a few moments where it looked like Joris Daudet might sneak in to take it away from him. In the end, it went Strombergs, Nhlapo and Daudet.

BMXNEWS will have more on the 2010 UCI BMX World Championships later on Saturday, as well as Cruiser results on Sunday.

Thanks to freecaster.tv for the screenshots.

Willoughby Takes Tops in TT, Pajon for the Women

**UPDATED Sat 7:23AM Eastern**

With a start time of 4AM Eastern, BMX News wanted to post up the Championship (normally “Elite”) Class Time Trials results. In the 80-rider field, Australia’s Sam Willoughby was last to go. Taking his time Trial run immediately before Same was Olympic Gold Medalist, Maris Strombergs of Latvia. Sam took the top time with a 38.487, while Maris turned the second quickest lap at 38.584. Joey Bradford was third for the USA at 38.650. Team USA riders Josh Meyers and Denzel Stein qualified 19th and 23rd, respectively, and the fourth American in the mix, David Herman was between Josh and Denzel, qualifying 21st.

The ladies were going WAY fast in the Time Trials. Mariana Pajon of Columbia, who has been a force on the UCI SX circuit since bumping up to Elite this season, turned a lap time of 39.853. That time, by the way, was fast enough that she could have qualified 13th among the 80 men in the Elite class, just ahead of Marc Willers of New Zealand. Caroline Buchanan of Australia and Shanaze Reade of the UK got the second and third spots with times of 39.972 and 40.070.

Junior classes ran their time trials yesterday down in Pietermaritzburg. Some interesting star alignments on the horizon. Brooke Crain and Taylor Wolcott grabbed the top two spots in Junior Women, and Dominique Daniels made it out of time trials for the first time. In the Men, Andre Sylvain of France bested American fire breathers Connor Fields and Corben Sharrah.

Here are the comprehensive results.

First Round, Junior Women Qualifiers:
1 123 CRAIN Brooke USA 42.111
2 126 WOLCOTT Taylor USA 42.817
3 75 VAN BENTHEM Merle NED 42.869
4 103 MCLEOD Melinda AUS 43.627
5 112 TAYLOR Abbie GBR 43.747
6 102 DELLAR Kirsten AUS 43.839
7 117 O’KEEFFE Teagan RSA 44.463
8 122 QUINALHA Bianca BRA 45.132

Second Round Junior Women Qualifiers:
1 109 JEPSEN Mette DEN 45.417
2 127 SORIANO Florencia Ayelen ARG 45.814
3 6 VAN DE PERRE Tori BEL 46.354
4 115 HEREIJGERS Maartje NED 46.574
5 110 LE ROUX Enora FRA 47.033
6 105 PEREZ Mayara BRA 47.062
7 120 DANIELS Dominique USA 47.298
8 119 NICOLET Cindy SUI 49.717

All Junior Men qualified (there were six DNS entries), but here are the details anyway.

First Round Junior Men Qualifiers:
1 219 ANDRE Sylvain FRA 38.985
2 134 FIELDS Connor USA 39.803
3 207 SHARRAH Corben USA 39.823
4 195 MARTINEZ Lorin FRA 40.513
5 150 WOODCOCK Trent NZL 40.530
6 160 DALFARRA Leandro BRA 40.968
7 190 LEJINS Kristers LAT 41.042
8 157 BRETHAUER Luis GER 41.373
9 172 GANSER Maximilian GER 41.620
10 156 BIRKELAND Aleksander NOR 41.950
11 205 OSTETI Hugo BRA 42.086
12 147 TEULLET Denis FRA 42.379
13 206 FERREIRA Igor BRA 42.589
14 189 LAUSTSEN Niclas DEN 42.597
15 187 KRISTERS Taims LAT 42.598
16 197 MCCORMACK Connor CAN 42.601
17 133 CRUZ ORMENO Ignacio CHI 42.915
18 176 HENDERSON Ryan AUS 43.097
19 164 DOS REIS Rogério BRA 43.251
20 165 DUNSWORTH Matthew AUS 43.966
21 203 NILSEN Per Erik NOR 44.607
22 130 CLARKE Benjamin AUS 45.016
23 217 YOSHIMURA Jukia JPN 45.352
24 148 VAN GENDT Twan NED 45.580

Second Round Junior Men Qualifiers:
1 142 OQUENDO ZABALA David COL 41.490 Q
2 174 HARMSEN Joris NED 43.080 Q
3 125 CARNAVAL Douglas BRA 45.396 Q
4 135 FOX Nicholas NZL 46.297 Q
5 127 CARVALHO Igor BRA 46.527 Q
6 145 PALACIOS MUNOZ Nicolas ECU 47.423 Q
7 152 AGUIRRE Elias CHI 47.739 Q
8 215 VARGAS OVANDO Sebastián BOL 47.835 Q
9 208 TANNIGER Romain SUI 48.152 Q
10 162 DEMONT Jonathan SUI 48.320 Q
11 138 FRANKS Daniel NZL 48.424 Q
12 139 FURLAN Mattia ITA 48.469 Q
13 180 HLADIK Jakub CZE 48.541 Q
14 198 MENDEZ Ignacio CHI 49.022 Q
15 179 HIDALGO Benjamin AUS 49.487 Q
16 216 VIRDIS Luca ITA 49.493 Q
17 149 VILACA Scarpelli BRA 49.834 Q
18 173 GOODWIN Darryn AUS 49.920 Q
19 146 SAMPEI Takamasa JPN 50.012 Q
20 129 CARVALHO Miguel RSA 50.986 Q
21 210 TORQUATO Guilherme BRA 51.278 Q
22 132 CREIGHTON Steven CAN 52.831 Q
23 155 BENETTI Nicholas CAN 1:02.281 Q

Elite Time Trials will run at 10AM South Africa time (4AM Eastern). Freecaster will be webcasting the Championship (Elite) class qualifying rounds starting at 7:30AM Eastern.

Stick with BMXNEWS for more UCI Worlds updates throughout the weekend.

Tory Nyhaug Injured in Elite Practice. Out for the Worlds.

Reports coming out of Pietermaritzburg are that Redline Factory Jr. Elite, Tory Nyhaug from Canada went down hard in Thursday Elite practice and was rushed to a local hospital with a lacerated spleen. Word is that Tory will remain in the hospital for the next several days and will, of course, miss participating in Saturday’s UCI BMX World Championships.

A thread was started over on VintageBMX.com for fans wanting to post their messages of support.

UCI BMX Crowns First 2010 World Champs

Around 3AM Eastern Time, the UCI BMX World Championships kicked off in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa (where it was 9AM). Today, qualifiers and main events were held for the 13-Under challenge classes (boys and girls)–meaning we already have a bunch of new world champions in BMX Racing, three of whom are from the United States.

Information is seeping over to the states via a variety of sources, Pete Dylewski among them, from whom we swiped the above photo of new 11 Boys World Champ, Bubba Gonzales. Also, Jeff Glynn is doing his best to rock the Twitter updates in between being a Team USA coach (follow USA_BMX). And the Vintage thread where Mike Fields is reporting his “man on the ground” experiences is where you’ll get the local flavor, aside from the black & white “who won” detail.

On Day One, Team USA scored three W1 plates (Julian Dittrick in 8 Boys, Bubba Gonzales (above) in 11 Boys, and Collin Hudson in 13 Boys). Amakye Anderson got second in 7 Boys, Wyatt Bell and Matt Sterling got third and fourth, respectively in 8 Boys. Cody Paulson was a main maker in 9 boys, with a W8, and Max Burhenn got 4th in 10 Boys. There were no girls from the United States in any of the day one main events.

Aside from that action, the Elite Women did their practice, but it got truncated by light rain. Racing down an SX hill is extreme enough, without “slip & slide mode” enabled.

More news from the 2010 UCI BMX World Championships as it develops, so keep it here, and on VintageBMX.com

Meanwhile, here are a few resources for you to check out:

Mike Fields’ “Welcome to the Worlds” thread on VintageBMX.com

Jeff Glynn “@USA_BMX” Twitter Page

Pete Dylewski “@doubleapete” Twitter Page

Freecaster.tv will be Webcasting the Elite Classes live, beginning Saturday morning around 6:30AM Eastern Time.

Results of the 13-Under Challenge Classes

Thanks to Pete Dylewski for the photo, via Tweetphoto

Man On The Ground Reports From SA

BMXNEWS made the executive decision earlier this year not to attend the UCI Worlds in South Africa. We felt that most people would be glued to the Freecaster coverage (greatly reducing the “Breaking News” opportunities we so cherish). Also, the cash required for the trip would take us to four or five additional nationals here in the states, and we felt readers would get more out of that.

That said, we are still keeping a close eye and ear on news coming out of Pietermaritzburg. As some of you may know, Mike Fields, Connor’s dad, is universally famous for writing some amazing “Man on the Ground” reports from the far-flung places that BMX takes them. Never to shirk his unofficial duties as the official correspondent for BMXers from Moscow to Monterrey, Mike has posted a thread on Vintage, from which he’ll keep us updated. Keep those updates coming, Mike…they’re awesome.

BMXNEWS will be bringing you some additional resources from the race as the week goes on.

Interview: KB on “Hurry Up & Wait” Healing

When one has reached the heights of a profession that Kyle Bennett has reached, the pressure to improve, perform and stay healthy is ever-present. More often than not, these concepts are at odds with each other, yet all are essential. The fear is that there is always someone grinding out one more sprint, doing one more of something, or one less of something else…and walking between the raindrops on the dozens of injury risks that lie in wait for any top-performing, present-day pro.

For Kyle Bennett, things seemed to be sizzlin right along this summer. He was solidly in the top 10 (closer to the top 5, really) in the ABA standings, he was on the funded USA team for the World Championships in South Africa, and he was training well. Save for a little setback in the semis in Salt Lake (which was said to have rung his bell quite a bit), it was going to plan.

That plan changed on Saturday, July 10 when, as he Denzel Stein and Donny Robinson were doing laps at the US Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Kyle over-jumped one of the sets on the third straight. What happened next changed the fate of Team USA BMX for 2010, and left both KB and dR in the hospital for several days.

In this episode of Announcers Tower, Kyle talks about the day of the accident, how it happened, and how he’s doing 10 days after spending a week in the hospital. He also looks to the future with the positive attitude of a champion, and makes it clear that he will be in the mix for quite some time to come.

Listen Now

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We really enjoyed doing this interview, and were very glad to hear the pep in Kyle’s voice, despite the injuries, and the disappointment of being sidelined for the 2010 Worlds. Thanks to Kyle for joining us! We look forward to keeping an eye on his progress, and eventual return.

KB and dR, fresh from the nursing ward, hit the beach with a cropped-out Denzel Stein and Corben Sharrah. (Photo courtesy of Donny Robinson)

Meyers and Stein to Replace dR and KB at Worlds

After a training accident took Team USA’s funded Elite riders Kyle Bennett and reigning Elite World Champion, Donny Robinson out of action for this year’s UCI BMX World Championships, the community has been on pins and needles as to who would be named to the squad to replace the two Olympians on the trip to Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, later this month

BMX News has just learned that Josh Meyers and Denzel Stein have gotten the nod from USA Cycling BMX Program director Mike King.

“While we’re sad Donny and Kyle won’t be able to participate in the event, we are excited to be able to offer two top young talents the opportunity to gain experience on the world’s highest stage,” King said in the official statement released by USAC late this afternoon.

Some big pressure on these guys, as Team USA is counting on them to bring home a podium finish (or two). The World Championships has the highest UCI points up for grabs, save for the Olympic Games themselves. With all three events remaining between now and 2012, some early podium wins would bode well for Team USA to take the maximum number of entry slots in the London games. In the most recent high-points showdown, the Class Three North American Continental Championship in Salt lake City, UT, earlier this month, the United States did not take any of the three podium slots in the Elite Men’s class, with those honors going to Maris Strombergs (Latvia), Sam Willoughby (Australia) and Khalen Young (Australia).

The Final Jr. Elite/Elite USA Team for South Africa is:

Junior Women
Brooke Crain (Visalia, CA – Factory Clayborn)
Taylor Wolcott (Roseville, CA – Tangent/Fly)

Junior Men
Connor Fields (Henderson, NV – Free Agent-Rockstar )
Corben Sharrah (Tucson, AZ – Redman Rockstar)

Elite Women
Arielle Martin (Pleasant Grove, UT – Intense-Monster Energy)
Amanda Geving (Largo, FL – MCS Bicycles)
Alise Post (Saint Cloud, MN – Factory Redline)
Ashley Verhagen (Simi Valley, CA – Crupi Bicycles)
Amanda Carr (Punta Gorda, FL – Endeavor/Ripxx)

Elite Men
Denzel Stein (Desoto, TX – Factory Redline)
Joshua Meyers (Treasure Island, FL – Factory S Squared-Troy Lee Designs)
Donny Robinson (Napa, CA – Hyper-Monster Energy – Injured)
Kyle Bennett (Conroe, TX – Free Agent-Rock Star – Injured)

News has also heard rumblings that David Herman grabbed a ticket and a last-minute entry into the race, though not on the official, funded team.

Keep it with BMXNEWS.COM for additional stories from the 2010 UCI BMX World Championships, and breaking news alerts leading up to the big day.

The actual start list for the “Championship” (Elite) classes has not been released yet, but we’ll post it once it is. Meanwhile, give a look to the Challenge Class list, by class

Worlds Organizer Says Everything’s Fine In SA

In the hopes of allaying security fears on the part of participants heading to South Africa for the 2010 UCI BMX World Championships next month, the Organizing Committee of the event issued a statement addressing these concerns directly. LOC head, Alec Lenferna, went on-record, saying:

“There is absolutely no reason for any BMX rider to be concerned about their safety traveling to South Africa for the Worlds. The event is being held in one of the safest areas of the country, and there are more than adequate security measures at the venue and in the city, where over 80% of the riders will be staying.”

He continued: “Pietermaritzburg was recently voted the second best city in the country to live in in a major online poll, taking factors such as standards of living, safety and security.”

“Of course there will be individual incidents where careless tourists become victims of crime, but to be honest that is a blunt reality that could happen anywhere in the world,” Lenferna added.

On June 9, BMX NEWS editors posted a thread on VintageBMX.com, seeking comment on a story carried by CNN, of armed bandits storming the hotel rooms of journalists who were in South Africa ahead of the start of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, widely known as the largest sporting event in the world.

Whether pointing directly at the Vintage post, or citing additional reports on the topic, the release continued, saying:

“The event organisers (are) responding to blog comments casting the 2010 UCI World Championships in South Africa in a negative light based on isolated crime reports from World Cup, encouraging riders not to attend the event.

“It’s ironic that the one incident that has been the focus of much of the blog activity has not been completely reported,” Lenferna added, referring to the robbery of three journalists at a Magaliesberg guesthouse last week.”

The release went on to talk about how the perpetrators of the robbery in the CNN piece were apprehended, and ushered into a speedy trial, where they were convicted and sentenced to 15 years in prison. It also made a point to make everyone aware of the heightened security measures taken by the SA government ahead of and during the World Cup:

Hundreds of thousands of soccer fans have flocked to South Africa for the FIFA 2010 Soccer World Cup during the past week, with hardly any criminal incidents being reported to the police in that period.

In anticipation of the influx of sporting tourists, security measures in all major centres and at transport hubs such as airports have been substantially reinforced, with a significantly heightened security presence visible across the country.

Speaking only for ourselves, it was certainly not our intent to cast the event, or South Africa, in a negative light, nor to discourage people from attending.

We were/are not saying “stay away.” We ARE saying “be extra-conscious of your surroundings.” No question, this can be said of certain areas in any major metro area in the world, Chicago, LA and, yes, Pietermaritzburg included. And you can be sure that when the Worlds come to Chicago someday, we’ll tell you precisely where NOT to go (it is often simply a matter of a block or two between good and evil, and you’d never know it until it was too late, if not warned in advance).

Most, if not all, of the BMXers traveling with Team USA are veteran travelers, who have long experience in sniffing out, and avoiding, any local drama (stories of the Worlds in Brazil last decade are the most intriguing). We’re confident those globetrotters have all their details dialed in. But there are a few points to consider for first timers heading down there:

-The release talks a lot about heightened security as part of the World Cup. The world cup ends on July 11. BMXers will start arriving two weeks later. Thus, it is worth considering that, after a month on high alert, security forces may be standing down, breathing a sigh of relief and rubbing their eyes, just as BMXers start to land.

-The US State Department Issued a Travel Alert to Americans traveling to South Africa for the World Cup. That document makes no mention of Pietermaritzburg as a city of concern, which is encouraging, but it is definitely worth reading for anyone traveling there.

As part of the State Department’s advisory, they list all the information on the US Embassy in the Executive Capitol of Pretoria, as well as U.S. Consulates General in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durbin. Also on that page is an excellent travel tips page called “A Safe Trip Abroad.”

BMXNEWS wants Americans to go boldly into their trip to the worlds, with a clear head, and bring back as many W1 plates as possible for the USA. There are about 40 days between now and when you are “wheels up” to Maritzburg. All we’re saying is use that time to do some planning, and never say “It can’t happen to me.”

2010 Team USA Challenge Team Announced

Today, USA Cycling released the roster of Team USA Challenge riders who have signed up for the 2010 UCI BMX World Championships, to be held in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa at the tail end of July.

In all, 45 riders will be making the trip over, from Blake Vance and River Bell in 5-6 Boys, to Elizabeth Jones in 45-Over Women’s Cruiser, Team USA is looking to bring back some podiums. With 58 entries, in all, 13 have the chance to bring home a double, including Felicia Stancil from Illinois (above).

Download the Team USA Challenge Class roster

The Championship Classes are still accepting registrations (til July 7), and should be final soon thereafter.

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