The countdown is on until the World Cycling Champs to be held in Glasgow, Scotland. The 2023 Champs will be a little different from previous years as for the first-time a total of 13 different cycling codes will be combined in the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships, spanning 11 days (3-13 August).

More than 3,000 riders are expected to participate in the various BMX Racing competitions across the Challenge and Championship categories including from New Zealand:

• 29 Challenge (age-group) riders and
• 10 Championship (Elite) riders
  • Elite men               Michael Bias,
  • U23 Men                Rico Bearman, Rico D’Anvers, Bennett Greenough (injured)
  • U23 Women          Megan Williams, Baylee Luttrel
  • Junior Men            Jack Greenough, Will Skipper
  • Junior Women       Brooke Penny, Leila Walker

While many of the Elite riders have been based in Europe, for the majority of riders it has been a cold, wet and dark winter build up. They have been working hard and getting together where possible for gate nights and weekend training sessions. With Glasgow’s cool, cloudy, summer weather the riders will be well acclimatised and ready for a fantastic BMX travel experience.

 

 

 

The Challenge team supporters gear has been popular with travelling riders and their families. It incorporates the Scottish flag and event details with the BMXNZ logo and Mangopare (hammerhead) design signifying strength, determination, strong will and a fighting spirit. The Challenge Team also has a new race jersey design which incorporates a strong NZ theme in clean black and white style. It is likely to be a hot item to trade for the Challenge riders as is the tradition, where riders exchange jerseys with new friends and fellow riders in the pits after racing.

The NZ entries include  13 Cruiser, 8 under 13yrs, 18 over 12yrs, and one Masters entry. From last year’s competition in Nantes, France the current World Champions Lily Greenough (16 Girls) and Dion Newth (50+ cruiser), along with Leon Dumbell 3^rd (11 boys), TJ Rikihana-Gray 3^rd and Toni James will be looking for some top results again this year. Challenge racing will be held over four days with riders racing on one day according to their age group and following a three moto transfer format.

Following on from Challenge racing is Championship racing and the tickets have been sold out for some time, it’s promising to be an exciting spectacle! Since the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships will play an important role in the qualifications for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, we will see the best of the best elite riders looking to gain qualification points in Glasgow. Rico Bearman currently sits at the top of the Under 23 Men UCI leader board and will be exciting to watch race, our top NZ women Megan Williams (U23) and Leila Walker (Jnr Women) along with Jack Greenough (Jnr Men) will be looking for a place in the top 8, following some strong European and World Cup results this season.

We wish all the New Zealand riders the best of luck and know that those at home will be following the updates and livestream with great interest and support.

Sharon Greenough

NZL Worlds Team Manager

Article added: Wednesday 19 July 2023