After Round 3 Saya Sakakibara’s consistency has paid off and the red leader plate was handed to her going into Round 4 at Papendal.
But things can change quickly. Both Rico Bearman and Mitchel Schotman (first and second place finishers of Saturday) failed to make it out of their quarter final leaving the door open for Cameron Wood (USA), Jaymio Brink (NED) and the others to move up on the UCI ranking list. In Elite Women pretty much all title contenders made it through to the Semi-Final. Staying in the race is important and that starts with staying on the bike. In Under 23 Men Pierre Geisse (FRA) failed to do that as he crashed in turn one in the quarter final which hurts the overall ranking for the Frenchman. Saturday’s 1-2 in U23 Women fared well in the quarter final as Michelle Wissing and Renske van Santvoort both won their ¼ final heat. Lily Greenough (NZL) however also won hers as well as Marie Favrel from France, the other title contender in Women Under 23.
Just when it was least expected it started to rain at Papendal. It did cool down a bit but it also changed the track conditions. The top 4 in each semi slid into the finals of the day when the sun came back out to wrap up round 4 of the UCI BMX Racing World Cup. With a reversed order with women first and men next, the first main of the day was almost a copy of Round 3. Michelle Wissing made it 4 in a row with Renske van Santvoort scoring second place points on Sunday as well. 3rd place this time was for a very happy Domenica Gissell Mora Cordero scoring her first podium on the other side of the planet to take home to Ecuador.
Next one up: Men Under 23. Former UCI World Champion Joshua Jolly (AUS) had a big challenge in front of him trying to beat the 1-2 finishers of Saturday. With both Casper Pipers and Jason Noordam in pursuit of the Australian it was task for him to stay up front. Joshua had to give it his all and made it in first with Jason accepting is first defeat and Casper putting himself on the podium with spot number 3.
All eyes were on Laura Smulders for UCI World Cup win number 29 but it didn’t get that far in the Elite Women final. Bethany Shriever (GBR) had been setting fast lap times all day long and just took off as soon as the gate dropped. Saya Sakakibara continued her consistency and finished 2nd for valuable UCI World Cup points with Molly Simpson getting 3rd.
Winning your first UCI BMX Racing World Cup is memorable for every BMX racer. This time it was Ross Cullen (GBR) who made it happen. Over the moon and in the clouds he accepted the first place trophy for the UCI BMX Racing World Cup win at Papendal which will get a good place in his trophy room back home. Cameron Wood (USA) settled for 2nd with Sylvain André (FRA) scoring another podium at Papendal.
This wraps up round 3&4. With one more stop to go in Argentina, some of the athletes will travel there with confidence. Others plan to shake up the overall standings when round 5 & 6 are over.
Podium Results:
Elite Men:
1) Ross Cullen (GBR)
2) Cameron Wood (USA)
3) Sylvain André (FRA)
Elite Women:
1) Bethany Shriever (GBR)
2) Saya Sakakibara (AUS)
3) Molly Simpson (CAN)
Under 23 Men:
1) Joshua Jolly (AUS)
2) Jason Noordam (NED)
3) Casper Pipers (NED)
Under 23 Women:
1) Michelle Wissing (NED)
2) Renske van Santvoort (NED)
3) Domenica Gissell Mora Cordero (ECU)
Pics by Tim Buitenhuis
After doing a BMX 'zine for ten years (1987 - 1996) FATBMX made it on the internet. The year was 1998. Here to stay.