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Three Medals For Canada At BMX Worlds

August 2, 2005 – The Bercy Omnisport played host to the 2005 UCI World BMX Championships in Paris, France, and with over 2,500 riders, the event marks the largest attendance to date. The track was made almost entirely from a sand-shale mix that proved to make traction an issue on the semi-banked turns and kept the racing interesting. An inconsistent gate control system provided some additional drama and it wasn’t uncommon to see a rider flip the gate every 20 motos or so.

All in all, the event was huge and the crowd noise was nothing like I have ever experienced in BMX. Canada had a small but talented contingent including eight Elite and Junior hopefuls.

Samantha Cools, who moved into Elite Women, was unable to avoid a first turn crash that kept her out of her first final in years. She did make her Cruiser final and placed a disappointing 5th. Christine Miller came close to making the Junior Women’s final but the same scenario rang true for her.

Cory Banks fared the best in Elite Men making it to the 1/8’s. Aaron Lepp, Jon Land and Ken Cools looked good but bad luck kept them out of the action after qualifying.

The most exciting performance was Scott Erwood who barely qualified with a 5-6-1 showing but then found his groove. He came through all the way to the semi in a tough class and almost joined his U.S. rivals, Upshaw and Brabant, in the final but a crash kept him out of the show. Lebel was unable to make it past 1/8’s.

Tory Nyhaug once again thrilled the crowd with a win in 13 boys and was the only 13-year old in the 13-14 Cruiser final capturing the bronze. Layne Nyhaug came close to making her main but bad luck would also keep her on the sidelines.

Peter Jensen finally earned his dues and captured the World #1 title in the 45+ Cruiser class and was the dominant rider throughout qualifying and finals.

Canadian highlights:

– Tory Nyhaug — 13 Boys World Champion and #3 in 13-14 Cruiser (24″ wheels)

– Peter Jensen — 45+ Cruiser World Champion

– Samantha Cools — fifth, 19 & Over Women’s Cruiser





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