The rainbow jerseys of the 2024 UCI World Champions were awarded today after a thrilling day of pump track competitions. Australia's Ryan Gilchrist and Czechia’s Sabina Košárková took the titles.
The 2024 UCI Pump Track World Championships took place on Saturday 9 November in Durban, South Africa, where the world's best pump track athletes - including a number of former UCI World Champions and the two reigning UCI World Champions - gathered to compete for the two rainbow jerseys at stake. The event took place in the vibrant KwaMashu district, renowned for its rich cultural heritage. The atmosphere generated by the athletes, fans and local supporters, combined with the technical and demanding 191-metre-long track, made for some great racing.
Timed runs starting off the competitions
After Friday's training sessions, the riders took to the track on the Saturday for timed runs, where 25 women representing 14 nations and 36 men from 14 nations gave their best to be among the 16 fastest riders of each gender, qualifying for the eight finals.
In the men's timed runs, the leading trio included 2021 UCI World Champion Eddy Clerté (France), who was fastest with a lap of 17.346 seconds, Belgium's Didi van Tiggel and 18-year-old Australian Josh Jolly, while 2023 UCI World Champion Alec Bob (USA) was 10th.
In the women's timed runs, 19-year-old Košárková recorded the fastest time with 19.109 seconds, just ahead of Swiss riders Christa von Niederhäusern, 2022 and 2023 UCI World Champion, and Nadine Aeberhard, bronze medallist at the 2024 UEC European BMX Racing Championships.
Reigning UCI World Champions eliminated in qualification
In the eight finals, Clerté was again the fastest, followed by Gilchrist, Jolly and Sweden's Love Sylwan, all with very close times, with Bob in 7th place and Australian AJ Donald in 8th. Tiggel on 13th was eliminated, with only the top eight riders qualifying for the rest of the competition.
Košárková and Aeberhard set the first and second fastest times, while 2021 UCI World Champion Aiko Gommers (BEL) finished third, 2021 bronze medallist Vinēta Petersone (LAT) ended up on fourth place, Niederhäusern on sixth and 2023 bronze medallist Alina Beck (GER) on seventh.
In the men's quarter-final, Jolly, Sylwan, Switzerland's Tristan Borel (4th in 2023) and Denmark's Marcus Leimberg were eliminated, leaving the four fastest men - Gilchrist (17.327 seconds), Donald, Clerté and Bob - to qualify for the semi-finals.
In the women's quarter-finals, Beck, Gommers, Niederhäusern and Switzerland's Eloïse Donzallaz were eliminated, and Košárková (fastest in 18.968 seconds), Petersone, Kristina Madarásová (Slovakia) and Aeberhard advanced to the semi-final.
After the semi-final, Bob and Clerté met again in the men's B final, where the American took bronze. Petersone and Madarásová battled it out in the women's B final, with the Latvian taking third place.
As a result, none of the 2023 UCI World Champions were left in the race for the rainbow jersey.
Finals: firsts for Gilchrist and Košárková
In an all-Australian men's final, Ryan Gilchrist outclassed 17-year-old AJ Donald with a time of 17.028 seconds compared to 17.333 to become UCI World Champion for the first time.
In the women's final, Košárková narrowly beat Aeberhard (19.100 seconds compared to 19.171). After finishing second in her two previous UCI World Championships, both times behind Christa von Niederhäusern, Košárková finally became UCI Pump Track World Champion.