UCI BMX Supercross, Beijing

UCI is pleased to announce the 2007 UCI BMX Supercross World Cup calendar, with 4 legs on 3 continents. The second round of the BMX Supercross World Cup will be the test event for the 2008 Olympic Games, on the actual Olympic BMX track. This will be the only time riders will be able to ride the Olympic track prior to the Olympic Games in August 2008 and will take place between 20th-21st August this year. The 2nd round will also see the introduction of a Women class (open class Elite Women/Junior Women) in the BMX Supercross World Cup.

From http://www.chinamtb.com

UCI BMX Supercross: Training camps at World Cycling Centre before final event

With the final of the BMX Supercross series just days away, five contenders have been training on the track at the World Cycling Centre (WCC) in Aigle, Switzerland. The final of the five-strong Supercross series will be disputed in Fréjus, France, on October 10th and 11th.

Norwegian athlete Anders Grönsund concluded his preparation on the WCC’s track from October 3rd to 8th. He was joined by a training partner from the United States, Joey Bradford. The Danish Cycling Federation also sent three of their athletes to Aigle to prepare the Fréjus race. Seasoned Elite Women rider Amanda Sørensen was accompanied by two of the country’s promising young athletes, Klaus Bogh Andresen, 21, who finished 3rd in this year’s Danish National Championships, and the National Juniors Champion, 18-year-old Mike Kaltoft.

The BMX Supercross Series began in Madrid in February, stopping over in Adelaide, Australia, in April, Copenhagen, Denmark in May, and Salt Lake City, USA, in September. Going into this weekend’s final competition, Danny Robinson, of the United States, leads the World Cup standings in the men’s competition, while the New Zealander Sarah Walker is top of the women’s ranking.

UCI Communication Services

From http://www.uci.ch/

BMX

Bicycle moto cross (BMX) started in the late 1960s in California, around the time that motocross became a popular sport in the USA. The motorized version of the sport was the inspiration for the human powered competition. Children and teenagers with the desire but not the means to participate in motocross sated their appetite by racing bicycles on self-built tracks. These young adventurers completed the imitation by dressing themselves up in motocross gear. The sport was given the name 'bmx' and the conception was complete. BMX races are held on circuits of around 350 metres, including jumps, banked corners and other obstacles. Eight riders compete in each heat (qualifying rounds, quarter finals, semi-finals, finals) with the top four qualifying for the next round.

BMX racing offered exciting action at a low cost, close to home. It is easy to see why the sport was an instant hit. In California the sport was more popular than anywhere else. During the early 1970s a sanctioning body for BMX was founded in the U.S.A. This is considered as the official start of BMX racing. As that decade progressed, the sport was introduced on other continents too, among them Europe in 1978.

In April 1981, the International BMX Federation was founded, and the first world championships were held in 1982. BMX rapidly developed as a unique sporting entity, and after several years clearly had more in common with cycling than motorcycling codes. Thus, since January 1993 BMX has been fully integrated into the Union Cycliste Internationale.

The main BMX areas in the world were and are the U.S.A., Europe and Australia, whilst South America has also been growing rapidly over the past years. BMX has been integrated with many national cycling federations. Currently, there are 75 national federations with official BMX activities recognized by the UCI. Over 1600 competitors from 32 countries participated in the 2003 UCI BMX World Championships that was held in Perth, Australia.

On June 29th 2003, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) decided to introduce BMX in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijng, China.
BMX within UCI :
• UCI has 75 affiliated national federations that have BMX racing on their program.
• UCI is the sole owner of the UCI BMX World Championships, which are held every year.
• UCI is the sole owner of the premiere BMX race series in the world - the UCI BMX Supercross.
• Over 70 international BMX events are present on the UCI International BMX Calendar, held on four continents.
• UCI is managing the UCI BMX Continental World Ranking, which contains of over 40 races counting for ranking points. Each year UCI is rewarding the top ranked BMX riders with 30.000 CHF.
• UCI is managing courses worldwide to educate officials, coaches and riders.

From: http://www.uci.ch/