UCI BMX World Championships – Birmingham, England
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Emotional day for both Maris Strombergs & David Herman at the World Championships in Birmingham, England, as there was a rainbow jersey on the line and a chance to secure USA’s #1 Olympic spot up for grabs for Herman. Both guys rode great all day and made it to the main event. With a tight first straight it was going to be really tough for both guys to get over from lanes 5 &6. Strombergs came out strong but couldn’t quite get Sam Willoughby from the outside going into turn #1 – resulting in him having to drift wide and got passed ending his shot at the title. More drama in the last turn, Marc Willers goes down taking both Strombergs & Herman with him. Herman got back up and crossed the line in 5th place, securing his ticket for the Olympic Games in London. For Strombergs it was disappointing but at least he can walk away from this race, healthy and in great form to continue his build up to London. It’s great that the Free Agent / Rockstar Team has two riders going to the Olympics.
On the Amateur side, we had a great weekend winning two World Championships! Stephen Larralde wins for the 2nd year in a row giving him two World Titles. Juan Marin made his first-ever World Championships appearance placing 4th on day #1 in class after being passed while leading but came back strong to Win the World Title in Cruiser. Our junior, Kristaphs Vinters had some real bad luck after winning all of his motos he crashed in the quarter finals and with it lost his chance at a medal this year – but he’s young – he’ll be back!
Our UK Free Agent Team also had a great World Championships with Ethan Craik 2nd Kim Baptista 4th and Alesi Tye 7th.
All in all, we wrap up this year’s World Championships with our two Elite riders confirmed for Olympic Selection and are now focused on bringing home some medals and we won 2 World Championships Titles. Cheers!