July 15, 2003 – The UCI BMX World Continental Ranking is just about to be finalized, at the World Championships in Perth, Australia we will find out who will be World Ranked No 1. A total of 30.000 Swiss Francs will be distributed among the top male and female rider on each continent as well as the top eight world ranked men and the top five world ranked women. With the double points for the World Championships, participation in the Worlds is a must if a rider wants to end up in top World Ranking.

In the North American ranking, Randy Stumphauser (USA) came out on top with the closest of margins over John Purse (USA) where a tie-breaker (most wins, most points in eight races) was used to split them apart. No matter what, both of these riders together with Kyle Bennett (USA) and Robert de Wilde (NED) will bring their points to the World Championships. On the female side, Kimberely Hayashi (USA) have had a perfect season so far, winning the North American ranking with a set of five wins (60 points). Last years World Champion, Gabriella Diaz (ARG) finished second with 52 points.

The European rounds also came to an end at the European Championships in Vallet, France. Ivo Lakucs (LAT) scored the maximum of 60 points with his five wins. Behind him were Lukas Tammé (CZE) and Medhi Remili (FRA) both on 47 points. On the female side, Jana Horakova (CZE) showed great consistency and ended up winning the European Continental ranking with 59 points, four points in front of Dagmara Polakova (SVK).

In the Oceanic Ranking, Michael Robinson (AUS) won with a slim margin over Luke Madill (AUS), where only a tie breaker separated the riders (most wins, most points in eight races). Both of these riders will indeed bring their points to Perth and compete for the overall ranking.

With the entries closed for the World Championships, the top five ranked riders on each continent is confirmed and the World Championships in Perth, Australia will be a thriller with the riders not only competing for the rainbow jersey but also for the UCI Overall ranking title.

To view the current points standing, please visit: http://www.uci.ch/english/bmx/rankings/2002/indexV.htm