February 21, 2007 – Here is the UCI’s February BMX update.

UCI BMX Ranking

The 2006/2007 ranking is getting interesting, with the season already in full swing in Latin America and Oceania. To view the latest individual ranking (dated 31.01.07), please click here.

The Nations Ranking (and qualification for the Olympic Games) is published here. In the Men’s Nations Ranking, the USA is currently ranked first, with Colombia and Argentina in second and third. Canada sits in 18th place. For the Women’s Nations Ranking, Argentina currently has a comfortable lead over Czech Republic and New Zealand. Canada is in ninth position.

The Nations ranking is based on the countries’ top three riders (starting from the 2006 BMX World Championships). The Nations Ranking will function as the main qualification criteria for countries to qualify for the Olympic Games. (To view the Olympic Qualification criteria, please see Part XI of the UCI rule book click here.

UCI Calendar
The 2006/2007 BMX Calendar is posted on the UCI website here. The upcoming calendar for the season 2007/2008 (starting Aug 1, 2007) will soon be launched on the UCI website.

2007 UCI BMX Supercross World Cup
UCI is pleased to announce the 2007 UCI BMX Supercross World Cup calendar, with four events on three continents.

13-14/04/2007 UCI BMX Supercross World Cup, round 1 Madrid ESP
20-21/08/2007 UCI BMX Supercross World Cup, round 2 Beijing CHI
21-22/09/2007 UCI BMX Supercross World Cup, round 3 Salt Lake City USA
13-14/10/2007 UCI BMX Supercross World Cup, round 4 Fréjus FRA

The first round will be held at the Juan Carlos I Auditorium in Madrid, Spain, organized by the very experienced event organizer Last Lap (organizer of Red Bull X-Fighters and multiple Mountain Bike World Cup events). The BMX Supercross event will be accompanied by a Red Bull BMX Freestyle show and exhibitions, promising an action packed event in front of 6.000 spectators. Please visit official website here.

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. The 2nd round will also see the introduction of a Women class (open class Elite Women/Junior Women) in the BMX Supercross World Cup.

The final round of the 2007 UCI BMX Supercross will once again be held in Fréjus, France in conjunction with the Roc d’Azur Festival, 12-13 October 2007. With a very successful BMX Supercross last year in front of 10’000 visitors, it will this year be even more exciting being scheduled in the evening under lights.

Information on the third round will soon be published on the UCI website.

2007 UCI BMX World Championships in Victoria, Canada

The preparation work is ongoing and has hit the next gear, with the 2007 UCI BMX World Championships that will be held at the Juan de Fuca Recreation Centre in the Westshore Community in Greater Victoria. The UCI Supervising committee visited Victoria in the end of January, and is very pleased with the preparation done by the Organizing Committee.

An international event on the World Championship track is scheduled for 26th May 2007.

The official World Championships website has already been launched and contains all necessary information such as accommodation, travel and pretty much everything else you need to know. Please click here.

UCI Introducing New Rules

The UCI is currently working on a new format of the BMX chapter in the UCI rule book, which will be launched in August 2007. Meanwhile, UCI will introduce special procedures for the season 2007, which will be additional rules to the existing rule book.

2007 UCI High-Level Training

The UCI intend to host yet another BMX high-level training camp at the World Cycling Centre in Aigle, Switzerland in 2007. Two training sessions will be held. The first session 16 April-23 July 2007 is aimed to athletes already competing on a high level. The second session will be held three September-October 2007, and will be development training for less experienced athletes.

The athletes will follow a training program especially created by Coach Hervé Krebs from Switzerland. As a former champion and responsible for the UCI training in the last few years, Hervé Krebs will be in charge of the BMX athletes program, giving young athletes a great opportunity to develop their skills.

National Federations has already received all necessary application information, and individual athletes are asked to contact their National Federation.

UCI Creating Olympic Training Facility

In March 2007, the UCI will reconstruct the existing BMX track at the UCI headquarters (Aigle, Switzerland), to a replica of the Olympic BMX track. This will create the perfect training facility for National Teams and athletes leading up to the Games. The track will feature the exact same start ramp and layout as the Olympic Track. The track will be finalized on April 15, 2007. Teams wishing to book the facility, please contact UCI at bmx@uci.ch. To view the UCI headquarters website, please click here.

New BMX Commission and Staff Members

The UCI are pleased to welcome Mr. Roger Rinderknecht (Switzerland) as a new member of the UCI BMX Commission. Roger is an active elite rider both in BMX and Mountain Bike 4X with numerous titles, such as; 6 time Swiss BMX Champion, 2003 European Elite Cruiser Champion. Roger placed 4th in last years UCI Mountain Bike 4X World Cup. Roger’s knowledge as an active elite rider will be a great asset to the UCI BMX Commission.

UCI also welcomes latest staff member, Mr. Mats Notlind (Sweden) to the UCI BMX department. Mr. Notlind, with many years of experience in action sports event management, is thrilled to be a part of UCI. “It’s such exciting times for BMX with the upcoming Olympic Games, and it is an honor to be a part of it” says Mats. Mats, who have also been involved in the management of several sailing teams in the (around-the-world) Volvo Ocean Race, will certainly contribute in many ways to BMX in years to come.

UCI DVD’S Now Available

For all of you that missed the BMX Supercross World Cup’s and BMX World Championships on TV in the last years. UCI is now launching a series of DVD’s covering all BMX Supercross World Cup events from 2003 to 2006, as well as the 2005 and 2006 BMX World Championships.

DVD 1 is a tribute to the classic BMX Downhill format, showing both the 2003 and 2004 BMX Supercross World Cup from Camp Woodward and Woodward West. DVD 2 shows the 2005 season, with both the BMX Supercross World Cup and the 2005 BMX World Championships from Bercy, Paris. DVD 3 covers 2006, including the 2006 BMX World Championships (elite classes) and the BMX Supercross World Cup from San Jose and Fréjus.

The DVD’s costs app. US$25/¤20 and will be pre-released here. For distributors interested to sell these DVD’s , please contact the UCI at bmx@uci.ch.

October 31, 2006 – The 2005/2006 UCI BMX Ranking came to an end with the 2006 UCI BMX World Championships in Sao Paolo, Brazil. Once again Robert De Wilde (NED) showed great consistency throughout the season snatching the top spot in Elite Men, followed by always present Randy Stumpfhauser (USA). In Elite Women, Gabriella Diaz (ARG) won the overall ranking with great results on the Latin American Continent and at the World Championships. Another Dutch rider, Martijn Scherpen came out on top in the Junior Men Ranking with his strong season in Europe followed by his 2nd place in the World Championships. Shanaze Reade (GBR) won the overall Junior Women Ranking with merely 1 point when she finished ahead of Maria Eugenia Ruarte (ARG) in the Junior Women finals at the World Championships. For full ranking results, please go to the following page; http://www.uci.ch/ucinet/uci.asp?page=rankings&discipline=bmx&ryear=2006&ridercategory=me&l=eng

UCI is pleased to announce the Nations Ranking, which begun with the 2006 UCI BMX World Championships and will continue until 2008 counting all Class 1,2,3 and 4 events. In the current Nations Ranking, USA is on top of the ranking with the strong performance of Mike Day, Randy Stumpfhauser and Donny Robinson. Visit the UCI ranking on this page; http://www.uci.ch/ucinet/uci.asp?page=rankings&discipline=bmx&ryear=2006&ridercategory=me&l=eng

The Nations Ranking will function as the main qualification criteria for countries to qualify for the Olympic Games. (To view the Olympic Qualification criteria, please see Part XI of the UCI rule book on the following link; http://www.uci.ch/modello.asp?1stLevelID=H&level1=0&level2=0&idnews=2676

UCI CALENDAR

The 2006/2007 BMX Calendar is posted on the UCI website. See link; http://www.uci.ch/ucinet/uci.asp?page=Calendar&discipline=bmx&ryear=2007&ridercategory=me&continent=all&l=eng

Starting from 2007, UCI will change the calendar to match the ranking calendar year. This will mean that the next calendar will be from 1 August 2007 to 30 May 2008. Calendar inscription information has already been sent out to all National Federation, and the deadline to register events on the international calendar is 15th December 2006.

UCI INTRODUCING MASTERS CATEGORY AT THE BMX WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

The highly competitive older age categories will reach another level of recognition at the upcoming 2007 UCI BMX World Championships in Victoria, Canada. As in other cycling disciplines, UCI is pleased to announce the introduction of a new full medal status category “Masters 30 & Over” (20″ Standard bicycle). The Masters 30 & Over will receive full recognition where the winner will be awarded a blue UCI Rainbow Jersey and medals to the top 3.

The Masters 30 & Over will be open for anyone that has not competed in any Elite class during the current season (from 1 Aug 2006). Each country will be allowed to enter 16 riders in Masters 30 & Over.

2007 UCI BMX WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS IN VICTORIA, CANADA

The preparation work for next year’s biggest event has already begun, with the construction of the World’s track already on its way. A new permanent track will be build by UCI track builder Tom Ritzenthaler at the Juan de Fuca Recreation Centre in the Westshore Community in Greater Victoria.

With the expected participation of over 2’500 athletes from 40 countries, the World Championships will be held from 26-29 July 2006. Challenge practice will be held 24-25 July, followed by Challenge competitions on 26-27 July. Elite classes will practice on 27 July with competitions on Saturday 28 July. All Cruiser Championship and Challenge events will be held on Sunday 29 July. Detailed schedule will be released shortly.

The official World Championships website has already been launched and contains all necessary information such as accommodation, travel and pretty much everything else you need to know. Please visit; www.bmxworlds2007.com

UCI BMX PERMANENT CAREER NUMBERS

Starting with the season 2006-2007 (from 1 August 2006), the UCI is introducing a permanent number system for Elite Men & Elite Women. With this system, riders can choose a “career number”, which they have the exclusive right to use for their entire Elite class career. This will give riders a possibility to market themselves and to give media and spectators an easy way to identify riders. A chosen number will be exclusive for the rider, and cannot be used by any other elite class rider (including Junior and Cruiser classes). Please view the assigned numbers on the link; http://www.uci.ch/modello2.asp?1stlevelid=C&level1=5&level2=0&idnews=4357

The permanent numbers have been assigned for this season 2006-2007, and no additional numbers will be assigned. Riders that haven’t already been assigned a permanent number will have another chance for next season (2007-2008) to apply for available numbers.

For that National Federations will receive an application form in June 2007, and individual riders shall contact their National Federation in order to apply for a permanent number.

2009 UCI BMX WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS AWARDED TO ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA

The UCI Management Committee has awarded the 2009 UCI BMX World Championships to Adelaide, Australia. Adelaide provided an excellent bid on all aspects with a great support from the Government of South Australia. The event will be held 23-26 July 2009 in the well-proven Royal Adelaide Showgrounds located only a few minutes from downtown Adelaide.

UCI BMX SUPERCROSS WORLD CUP

The 2006 UCI BMX Supercross World Cup has come to an end after two exciting events in USA and France. The 1st round of UCI BMX Supercross World Cup made a popular return to San Jose (USA) in September and was once again a part of the Dew Action Sports Tour’s Toyota Challenge stop. With the event being held in night time, the spectacular BMX Supercross track was presented in a fantastic setting, bringing the crowd to their feet with some astounding race action. The event was broadcasted on NBC Sports the next day, where 40 million TV viewers could see Michal Prokop (CZE) win in front of a pack of strong US riders. Michal Prokop, also being the MTB World Champion, amazed many with his ability to be competitive in two different disciplines!

The final round of the UCI BMX Supercross World Cup was held in Fréjus, France in conjunction with the biggest MTB event in Europe — the Roc d’Azur. In front of 80’000 Roc d’Azur visitors. High winds became a safety issuen during race day and the track needed to be altered with less jumps for the finals. Nevertheless, the racing action was intense, with Donny Robinson (USA) edging out Michal Prokop (CZE) for the win. Robinson also won the overall UCI BMX Supercross World Cup title.

The UCI BMX Supercross will be extended to four stops in 2007, adding a few new events and returning to both San Jose and Fréjus.

June 24, 2006 — The UCI is pleased to introduce the UCI BMX ranking and results in a new format directly linked to the UCI website calendar. The Continental ranking is in full mode on all continents, with the South American and Asian/Oceanic ranking coming to an end, while the North American and European ranking series is getting busy with races all the way up to the World Championships in Brazil.

Elite Men Overall ranking
With the latest ranking published (21/06/2006) Robert de Wilde (NED) has once again proved his worthy of his new nickname “UCI-Bob” and moved into the top spot. Oceanic standouts Kamikaze (AUS), Wade Bootes (AUS) and Mark Willers (NZL) have been scoring good points and are way up there in the Overall standing as well. Look for other North American riders to move up through the rank when the North American races are kicking in full gear. Don’t count out the Euro’s where the super strong Latvian riders and the French squad has been scoring good points in the beginning of the series.

Elite Women Overall ranking
Gabriella Diaz (ARG) has made a move towards the top scoring valuable points in the last rounds of the Latin American rounds. Tanya Bailey (AUS) and Renee Junga (AUS) follow closely in the points chase. The fastest women on the European and North American ranking is catching up fast, so expect changes in the top of ranking in the near future.

Junior Men Overall ranking
In the Junior category, the top riders from all continents are only separated by a few points, whith Todd Pascoe (AUS) in the lead, followed by riders such as Martijn Sherpen (NED) and Joey Bradford (USA).

Junior Women Overall ranking
The Junior Women category is getting more intense by each week, make sure to check it out.

To view the complete UCI ranking, please visithttp://www.uci.ch/ucinet/uci.asp?page=rankings&discipline=bmx&ryear=2006&ridercategory=me&l=eng

2006 UCI BMX WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS, SAO PAOLO BRAZIL

The UCI track builder Tom Ritzenthaler (USA) has recently returned from Brazil where a world class permanent BMX track has been constructed for the upcoming UCI BMX World Championships in Sao Paolo.

The 2006 UCI BMX World Championships will be held 28-30 July 2006 at the Mario Covas Olympic Park. To view the 3D track map, please visit http://www.uci.ch/modello2.asp?1stlevelid=C&level1=5&level2=0&idnews=4028

For general information regarding the event, lodging and travel, please visit the UCI website at:

http://www.uci.ch/modello.asp?1stLevelID=LB&level1=1&level2=0&idnews=3976

The online registration system has been activated for all National Federations on the UCI website, where they are requested to enter all participants in Challenge classes before the deadline of June 15th 2006, and July 14 for the elite classes. All riders must enter through their National Federation, and no individual entries are accepted.

UCI INTRODUCING PERMANENT CAREER NUMBERS

Starting with the season 2006-2007 (from 1 August 2006), the UCI is introducing a permanent number system for Elite Men & Elite Women. With this system, riders can choose a “career number”, which they have the exclusive right to use for their entire Elite class career. This will give riders a possibility to market themselves and to give media and spectators an easy way to identify riders.

The UCI permanent number system is solely for the Elite Men & Elite Women class, where any rider with an international license rider can choose a permanent career number from 10 to 999. Number 1 — 8 will be reserved and will be assigned to the top 8 finishers in the previous years BMX World Championship, and can be used for the upcoming season.

A chosen number will be exclusive for the rider, and cannot be used by any other elite class (including Junior and Cruiser classes). A chosen number will remain as long as the rider receives UCI points during the season, although the number will be assigned to the rider for 2 additional years (without points) before becoming available again.

The National Federations will receive an application form shortly, and shall submit a list of all their (Elite Men & Elite Women and Juniors moving up) riders, wishing to receive a permanent number before July 30, 2006. Individual riders shall contact their National Federation in order to apply for a permanent number.

2006 UCI BMX SUPERCROSS WORLD CUP
As previously announced, the 2006 UCI BMX Supercross World Cup will be held over 2 rounds. The first round of the UCI BMX Supercross will be held 6-7 September 2006 in San Jose, CA (USA) at the “Toyota Challenge” stop of Dew Action Sport Tour. A new feature for 2006 is that the BMX Supercross finals will be held on Thursday night under lights, assuring a spectacular show for TV and spectators.

The second and final round of the UCI BMX Supercross World Cup will be held 6-7 October 2006 in conjunction with the Roc d’Azur event in Fréjus, France. Roc d’Azur is one of the largest cycling festivals in the world, 2005, Roc d’Azur attracted more than 120’000 spectators with its shows and exhibitions which also featured a mountain bike marathon event with over 10’000 participants. With the event being located 5 minutes from the Mediterranean Sea has more likely played an important role to its success. Please visit:

http://www.rocazur.com

More information will be published soon on the UCI website:
http://www.uci.ch/modello.asp?1stLevelID=EA&level1=0&level2=0&idnews=4064

UCI BMX HIGH LEVEL TRAINING
A new eager group has arrived to the World Cycling Centre in the beginning of May, and have trained hard for the last month and a half under the coaching of Hervé Krebs.

The team consists of the returning Junior Cruiser World Champion, Sifiso Nhlapo (RSA), Dzmitry Sidarau (Belarus), Fabian Hernandez (Colombia), Balint Vincze (Hungary), Kristaps Konrads (Latvia), Vilma Rimsaite (Lithuania), Lev Chiseliov (Moldavia), Jacek Kowalski (Poland), Cim Sjölander (Sweden), Yvan Lapraz (Switzerland), Pascal Seydoux (Switzerland), Tawatchai Masae (Thailand) and Andriy Egunov (Ukraine).

Great progress is being made by the squad, where standouts have been so far Pascal Seydoux (2006 Swiss Champion), Yvan Lapraz, SUI (1st place European Championships) and Fabian Hernandez (COL) scoring a double victory at the NBL Hoosier National event in USA.

Make sure to watch these athletes at the World Championships in Sao Paolo, Brazil.

June 18,2002

courtesy UCI

Track construction begins at the CMC
The work to build a BMX track at the World Cycling Center in Aigle,
Switzerland has begun.

Within ten hectic days, the NBL (National Bicycle
League, USA) Track Crew members, Tom Ritzenthaler and Shawn Williams will
construct the high-level BMX track right outside of the CMC (Centre Mondial
du Cyclisme).

The track will be 350 meters long, including a “Pro-Section” with
asphalt in the five turns along the track. “Since the track will mainly be
used as a training facility, we’ve asked the guys to draw and construct a
technical track that will be a challenge even for the best riders in the
world” says Johan Lindström, UCI BMX Coordinator.

“The actual area where the track will be situated is a bit tight,
so we need to be extra creative with the design to make it work” says Tom
Ritzenthaler from the NBL.

“For BMX in general, I think it’s very important to have this track
situated here at the World Cycling Center. The BMX discipline has been a
part of the UCI for several years, but it’s good to have this track to keep
promoting BMX for visiting cycling federations from all around the world,”
continued Lindström.

“I hope we stay lucky with the weather during these ten days, we’re
going to busy 24/7 even without any rain,” says Tom Ritz while he jumped
into a loader to start shaping the jumps on the first straight.

Check out the UCI website for further updates regarding the CMC BMX
track: www.uci.ch