Sport

SA on target for BMX World Champs

26 May 2010

The International Cycling Federation has given the thumbs-up to South Africa's preparations for the 2010 UCI BMX World Championships, taking place in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal from 29 July to 1 August.

UCI technical delegate Johan Lindstrom jetted into Pietermaritzburg last week for a final briefing ahead of the World Championships, and after a gruelling 24 hours of meetings and inspections of the Royal Showgrounds venue and facilities, he was positive that the event would be top-class.

"It is a fantastic venue for a BMX Worlds," said Lindstrom.

"I know the hospitality will be great, and the big entry of riders from over 35 countries are really looking forward to coming to Pietermaritzburg for the Worlds."

He added that the state-of-the-art track that will be constructed in the showgrounds arena will take the sport into a whole new era.

'One of a kind'

"It will be one of a kind," he enthused. "Never before have we built a course that will have two separate start ramps, and the track will be technically difficult and demanding."

The plans approved by the UCI feature eight-metre-high start ramps for the elite classes, and a smaller five-metre start ramp alongside it for the challenger classes.

"This track is going to be insane," bubbled Pietermaritzburg's master age-group world number-one Sharlene McGillvray. "It's going to be fast and technical, which is exactly what we need for a World Champs event."

The sport of BMX is growing globally, helped by its inclusion in the Olympic programme at the Beijing games in 2008.

'BMX has really taken off'

"Since Beijing BMX has really taken off," said Lindstrom. "It used to be seen as a kind of underground sport, but now riders know that they can take it all the way to the highest sporting platform in the world."

"That is particularly trying amongst the female riders, where the standard is really improving at a very fast pace," he added.

"In recent years the standard has also improved incredibly," Lindstrom continued. "That's what makes it a challenge for us to design a course for the World Championships because the top riders are going faster and higher. But we also have to make sure that the course is fair for everyone."

The Royal Showgrounds venue has been warmly welcomed by the UCI as it has a large number of buildings available to provide each of the visiting national federation teams with comfortable, spacious facilities for their workshops and team lounges.

The local organising committee under Alec Lenferna presented its plans to Lindstrom, who was excited to see the arrangements at an advanced stage.

Rider preparations

With the competition moving inexorably closer, the world's top riders are working to strict training schedules to make sure they peak at the right time and are ready to challenge for the year's most important title.

The Elite and Junior men's and women's World Championship events takes place on the purpose-built track in the Royal Show Grounds on Saturday, 31 July. However, practice for all riders starts on Tuesday, 27 July. Racing for all the other classes starts on Thursday, 29 July and runs through to Sunday, 1 August.

One man who will be desperate to win in Pietermaritzburg is sure to be Sifiso Nhlapo. The South African Olympic finalist suffered a frustrating year in 2009 after a massive crash while training halted his steady rise up through the international ranks.

Big event successes

Nhlapo, who finished third in the 2008 World Championships in China and seventh at the Beijing Olympic Games, is now back on the track and challenging the big guns.

As well as being South Africa's poster boy for BMX, he is also the host country's big hope for glory at the Pietermaritzburg event, so the SA BMX community was well pleased with the 23-year-old's semi-final finish at the World Cup in Denmark earlier this month.

But Nhlapo will have to be at his very best to record a sentimental home victory, despite the absence of one of his biggest challengers, 2009 World Champion Donny Robinson. The American ace is currently injured and a doubtful starter in Pietermaritzburg, but there are plenty of other riders who are building up to challenge for the world champion's crown.

Head of the list

With two World Cup events completed so far this season, the rider who has pushed his name to the head of the list of riders to beat is the reigning Olympic Champion, Latvian Maris Strombergs, who recently won the World Cup in Copenhagen, Denmark, and heads the 2010 World Cup standings.

The world's top ranked rider is 19-year-old Sam Willoughby. He cruised to victory in the opening World Cup event in Madrid earlier this year and had it not been for a crash in the semi-finals, would have been in contention for a repeat victory in Copenhagen.

In the women's category Frenchwomen Laëtitia le Corguillé has scored two World Cup victories in a row and is shaping up to be the women to beat.

SAinfo reporter