Following a thrilling six-round 2024 UCI BMX Racing World Cup and ahead of the Paris Olympics, the UCI BMX Racing World Championships are to be held at Rock Hill, South Carolina (USA), for the second time. Here’s what to expect.
Introduction to the Rock Hill track
Opened in 2014, the Rock Hill BMX Racing track is an Olympic-standard training facility – that also includes a pump track – for Elite and amateur riders. It is open to the public but also holds top level national and international competitions. It already hosted the UCI BMX Racing World Championships in 2017.
The outdoor track has a standard layout with four straights, the second including an ‘Elite line’ for the male Championship categories. The track surface is Soiltac, providing a fast riding surface, which can be used in all weather conditions.
Reigning Olympic Champion and two-time UCI World Champion Niek Kimmann (NED) shared footage of the Rock Hill track after it was re-worked two years ago.
Kimmann, who won the last two rounds of the 2024 UCI BMX Racing World Cup in Tulsa, Oklahoma (USA) – his first double since 2019 – said he was pushed hard for the win but was timing his return to form well.
Rock Hill winners from 2017
Turn the clock back to Rock Hill 2017 and we saw a double for the USA’s home riders in the Elite categories as Corben Sharrah and a certain Alise Willoughby (three podiums in the 2024 UCI BMX Racing World Cup, and third overall) took the gold medals. In the Juniors, the winners were Cédric Butti of Switzerland – who so narrowly missed out on the 2024 Elite UCI World Cup overall just two weeks ago – and Great Britain’s Beth Shriever who pipped Australia’s Saya Sakakibara to the title seven years ago.
2024 UCI BMX Racing World Championships schedule
While the major focus naturally falls on the Championship racing (Women and Men Elite, Under-23 and Junior), there is a full 10-day programme in store in Rock HIll. After practice days there are Challenge (boys, girls, men and women) and Masters (men and women) races from Sunday 12 to Wednesday 15 May. Qualifiers for the Championship categories start on Friday 17 May, with the quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals on Saturday 18 May.
UCI BMX Racing World Cup provides show of form
After early season Men Elite wins for Frenchmen Romain Mahieu and Joris Daudet,
the last of three double-headers were raced in Tulsa. Niek Kimmann turned on the afterburners in both finals, with Australia’s Isaac Kennedy pushing him hard, and taking the overall title. Butti lost his overall lead after missing the Round 6 final.
The Women Elite saw a masterclass from Sakakibara, some strong form from Willoughby and great speed but errors – including a DNF in Tulsa – from Shriever. The only UCI World Cup rounds this year when Sakakibara hasn’t been on the top step was a double-win for Switzerland’s Zoé Claessens in Brisbane, Australia. The Swiss rider chose to sit out the final two rounds in Tulsa.
With Men Under 23 rider Oliver Moran timing his form brilliantly and Teya Rufus dominating Women Under 23 racing across the season, we saw Australian UCI World Cup overall winners in all four categories.
After Round 6 we asked Saya Sakakibara and Oli Moran about how their recent achievements helped preparation for the UCI World Championships…
“I was feeling quite comfortable about where I was at in terms of my training and the result in Tulsa confirmed it,” said Saya Sakakibara. “I can definitely take this weekend as evidence to refer back to at the UCI Worlds.”
“Mentally, it was exactly what I needed,” said Moran. “I was struggling with confidence coming into this race but I knew my coaches are doing the right thing for me and it shows that it's working. Now I've just got to replicate the process and keep having fun with it. So I'm excited to get into it.”
Reigning UCI World Champions to defend their titles
The 2023 BMX Racing World Champions were crowned in Glasgow, Scotland, as part of the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships.
The Men Elite saw a French 1-2-3 with Romain Mahieu, Arthur Pilard and Joris Daudet, who’s been recovering from a broken collarbone. Some of the French contingent were missing from the final two rounds of the UCI World Cup as they focused on preparation for the UCI World Championships, and will be hungry for success.
This week Mahieu says he’s been putting in “a few productive days in Rock Hill”. He won’t be giving up that rainbow jersey without a fight.
In Women Elite racing, the Olympic Champion Beth Shriever won on ‘home turf’ for her second rainbow jersey, beating Laura Smulders (NED) and 2019 UCI World Champion Alise Willoughby.
Recently Shreiver has kept her rainbows busy in preparation, saying: “Worlds prep is well underway here in Tulsa, switching it up with some fun lines”.