Olympians lead riders for BMX racing medals
- Dave Worsley
- Aug 3
- 3 min read
Updated: Aug 4
Eight New Zealand BMX riders have ridden through to the quarterfinals on the opening day for elite riders at the UCI BMX Racing World Championships in Copenhagen.
Early rain made conditions tougher, especially for the junior riders, but the weather eased and the track dried as the day progressed.
LATEST HEADLINES:
Olympians Leila Walker (Cambridge) and Rico Bearman (North Harbour) are through to the quarterfinals in the elites, joined by North Harbour’s Michael Bias in the men and Rotorua’s Megan Williams in the women.
They will be accompanied by the Cambridge club pair of Lily Greenough and Finn Cogan in the juniors, along with Lily’s brother Jack Greenough (Cambridge) and Brooke Penny (Te Awamutu) in Under-23.
Morning rain dampened the early racing for juniors but improved as the day continued and dried considerably as elite riders moved through qualifying and then into elimination racing to reach the quarterfinals stage.
Lily Greenough continued the outstanding form of her European campaign to win her heat in junior women in the second fastest time to move directly to the quarterfinals.
In junior men Cogan impressed to progress in his heat and won his one-eighth round moto to secure his quarterfinal spot.
Teammates Cooper Richardson (North Harbour) and Nicholas Cowie (Southland) were both forced through to the Last Chance motos where both were eliminated.
In Under-23 racing, Penny enjoyed a short but profitable day, finishing third in her Round 1 moto which earned direct entry to the quarterfinals.
Jack Greenough was edged to fifth in his first round in under-23 men, but was impressive in winning his Last Chance moto in the fastest time. He went on to finish just 0.004s from the winner in his first round final to secure a quarterfinal place.
Kiwi elite racers had to use all their racecraft today, none more so than Michael Bias who was edged back to fifth in his first round but placed second in the Last Chance round to move to the One-Eighth Final. He pushed up to fourth to progress to the quarterfinals after a daring under-cut move saw him pushed from the rear of the pack into fourth and only half a second from the winner.
Bearman moved through in third place in his opening round and after a mistake, he recovered up to fourth in his One-Eighth Final to edge through to the quarters, where he will need his renowned gate speed to threaten chances against the big names.
Bennett Greenough could not join his brother and sister in tomorrow’s quarterfinals, after bowing out in the Last Chance round, just 0.01s from the final qualifying spot.
Walker qualified for the quarterfinals in elite women, finishing second to Dutch star Laura Smulders in her first round moto, showing her outstanding bike handling to progress. She takes on Smulders and her sister Merel in her quarterfinal.
Williams only just missed out on direct qualification but won her Last Chance moto with a strong ride to move into tomorrow’s quarterfinals, where she has drawn Olympic champion Saya Sakakibara and her Australian teammate Lauren Reynolds.
