What an intense day! The first stop of the 2018 edition of the Vans BMX Pro Cup brought us a lot of emotions. Sydney was not as sunny as the legend says and after rescheduling the women competition because of the rain we've been scared the weather would not let the event go until the end. Fortunately Mother Nature was on the ride side and we've been able to go through a great women competition, the men semi-finals and finals regrouping some of the best riders of the world.
Ryan Saville who arrived first during the Regional Qualifier yesterday was the favorite of the crowd and offered a great show. He's not the only one, the Australian audience enjoyed a show of great quality, the riders were in an amazing shape and always surprised the crowd. The biggest surprise was probably when Sergio Layos' bike landed in the audience... Oopsie!
Kevin Peraza's superman left everyone speechless, we've been really impressed by the resistance of Brandon Loupos after his massive crash at the end of the Best Trick contest. The australian Alex Hiam was in a great shape, he managed to arrive 2nd for the best trick and 3rd for the Pro Cup. At the end of the day Nina Buitrago won the best trick and Teresa Azcoaga won the first stop of the Pro Cup. For the men the local Jason Watts won the best trick and the winner of the 2017 edition, Larry Edgar won the very first stop of this 2018 edition.
Vans BMX pro cup DAY 1 - 27/04 Regional Qualifier. For this second Australian edition of the Vans BMX pro cup the organization changed the setting of the competition. We left the mythic Manly Beach and moved to the most suburban area of 5 Dock and its iconic bowl. One more time Sydney is the first stop of the tour, Australia being one of the countries providing the most talented riders in the world we can already expect a high level of riding during the week-end.
All day long, riders coming from all around Australia and even from overseas compete during the regional qualifier to win a chance to have a shot at the pro cup tomorrow.
During the qualifications we bumped into Nina Buitrago, guest rider from the US, and took advantage
SUM UP of the Vans BMX pro cup: This year, beautiful Manly beach was welcoming the very first international BMX competition in Australia in the context of the Vans BMX Pro Cup series. Manly represents the first stop of the tour, next Spain and Mexico. To start well this new tour, some of the best names in the industry had been invited; Pat Casey, Kevin Peraza, Alex Hiam to name a few....
Last week the regional qualifications already showed a great level from riders highly motivated to take part in this brand new event and to challenge riders invited from the US and Europe. This in a bowl designed and made especially for the occasion. The riders kicked it off during the semi-finals last Friday, but unfortunately the bad weather interrupted the event before the end.
After doing a BMX 'zine for ten years (1987 - 1996) FATBMX made it on the internet. The year was 1998. Here to stay.