The 2024 UCI Urban Cycling World Championships brought riders to the spotlight after two days of acclimating to the fields of play. Returning to the Nation Towers parking lot, which hosted the BMX Park event in 2022, the setup had a fresh design this year. Featuring ramps painted in new colors, the course showcased a spine, box jump, hip, and volcano nestled between quarter pipes of varying sizes. While the space wasn’t the largest ever, it provided enough elements to thrill the audience. Meanwhile, the flatland arena surprised many with its updated design. The oval from 2022 was replaced by a 15-meter-diameter circular platform. Built with three layers of wood, the sturdy structure enabled riders to execute their most impressive combos with confidence.
On Thursday, December 19, qualifications for Men’s Flatland and Park categories kicked off. Riders aimed to advance to the semi-finals, with 12 competitors progressing in Flatland and 24 in Park. Staying in contention is vital, as only those who make it through have a shot at the podium by the event's end.
Friday, December 20, marked the next round of eliminations. Under a sunny sky, Men’s Park riders returned to the course after Thursday’s night-time qualifications. Jordan Clark of Great Britain, a five-time scooter world champion, made an explosive debut in his first major BMX competition. His 88.00-point first run secured the highest score in the semi-finals, a remarkable achievement.
The British team as a whole performed strongly, with Dylan Hessey taking 2nd, Kieran Reilly
The 2024 UCI Urban Cycling World Championships will bring the BMX Freestyle Park and Flatland season to a close in Abu Dhabi, UAE, from December 18-21. Returning to the same venue that hosted the event in 2022, the sport’s elite will battle for the prestigious UCI Rainbow jerseys.
BMX Freestyle: Park and Flatland
The BMX Freestyle events will feature two thrilling disciplines: Park and Flatland. Flatland riders will perform on a proven oval platform, while Park competitors will navigate a newly crafted arena that includes features like a box jump, volcano, slanted walls, a hip, and various quarter pipes. The action promises to be spectacular.
A Global Journey for the Championships
Over the years, the UCI Urban Cycling World Championships have traversed the globe. Early editions were held in Chengdu, China, before moving to Montpellier, France, in 2021 for the first indoor event. The competition came to Abu Dhabi in 2022 and then to Glasgow, Scotland, in 2023, where all cycling disciplines were celebrated in a unified world championship. In 2024, the event returns to Abu Dhabi, promising an unforgettable conclusion to the year.
It sounded like a good idea at the time, throwing a jam, and guess what, it turned out better than expected for the Zonder Pardon crew. Getting off your asses doing stuff is what we can support. There's nothing wrong with getting the community together for a good time but they don't show up at the same time all of a sudden. Action needs to be taken, preparations need to be made, things need to be organised. Ideas can pop up, but they need to materialize and often it's easier said than done. But oh boy, did the community show up and did the ZP BMX jam turn out good.
Area51 was chosen. A smart choice as organizing an outdoor event in The Netherlands in December isn't the smartest thing to do. A very long low rail was welded, poles were made for the high air comp on the quarter and out of the bank, the spine was still there from previous week's Dutch Champs, a kicker was made for the long distance jump and a rail with a raised end was put together for a session as well. Anyway, it wasn't going to be a regular Area 51 riding session. Riders from France, Germany, Belgium and the Dutch (street) scene rolled in for the evening jam. The Park section was turned into a stage for the bands and DJs and the bar was open!
For whatever reason the lights went out during most of the night, even during the sessions, but the riding went off regardless. Photo-wise it became difficult at this point shooting without a flash. Even the ISO button couldn't solve the issue, but we already had taken some during the warm-up when the lights were
Results Costa Rican National Park Championships - Park Parque 10cio Jaco, Puntarenas, Costa Rica. 08 December 2024.
BMX Park:
1 Gamaliet Alexander OSEGUEDA REYES 27 CRC 200.00 UCI Ranking Points
2 Dereck RODRIGUEZ SOLANO 26 CRC 160.00
3 Jose Joaquin QUESADA FONSECA 24 CRC 130.00
Results Brazilian National Championships - Park Maringá Pr, Brazil 06 - 07 December 2024
Men Park:
1 Caio DE OLIVEIRA SOUSA 31 BRA 200.00 UCI Ranking points
2 Felipe ALVES ALEXANDRE 25 BRA 160.00
3 Cauan MADONA PONTES DO NASCIMENTO 30 BRA 130.00
4 Gabriel RIBEIRO DOS SANTOS MENDONÇA 30 BRA 110.00
5 Davi Henrique GIBIM SODRÉ 21 BRA 90.00
6 Douglas LEITE DE OLIVEIRA 33 BRA 70.00
7 Victor LAGE SILVA 31 BRA 50.00
It has become a reoccuring event, the Dutch National BMX Park championships. A few editions have taken place at Skateland Rotterdam and a couple at Area 51. On November 30th the Dutch park scene got together in Eindhoven for the 2024 edition. The Park had been upgrades with a spine and a smaller box jump on the street section and transfers between the bigger ramps and the new ramps were possible during the riders' runs. Anyway, a free pick to choose whatever you preferred. Jikke Schraffordt made the right choices and won the U15 women class. BMX Amsterdam also picked up the title in the U15 Men class in the name of Saimi Paulissen. Barspins, ET's, tire grabs, no-handers, X-ups. T-bos, cancans over the spine, alley-oop 270s, and a 360 over the new box jump. Saimi's run was packed and he beat Madhu Furst and his younger brother Oden to it. Scooter rider Jesse Bust decided to borrow Daniel Wedemeijer's bike and had a go at the 15+ class. And guess what, he won! In good Daan Melis fashion he showed no problems taking his scooter tricks and adapting them to the BMX bike. If Jordan Clark can do it... Jesse pulled flairs, flips, did Toboggans, cancans, 270s and 360s after only one hour on the bike. Next to scooter champ he can now add BMX champ to his C.V.
Indy Kramer did not have much competition in Elite Women but even if there would have been more girls, they would have to do well to beat Indy. Multiple Dutch champion at age 16. No-handers, 360 X-ups, T-bogs, transfers, alley-oop 270s, cancans, all on the big ramps in the park. The red/white/blue jersey will be framed at some point. Maybe.
Results Hungarian Park National Championships - Park Miskolc, Hungary 01 December 2024
Men Park:
1 Kristóf KRAUSZ 18 HUN 86,66 200.00 UCI ranking points
2 Kornél FICSÓR 23 HUN 85,33 160.00
3 Péter NÁHLIK 24 HUN 83,66 130.00
4 Márk VUKMAN 29 HUN 80,66 110.00
5 Márton GYURÁN 27 HUN 68,50 90.00
6 János BÁBEL 20 HUN 58,50 70.00
7 Roland HENC 30 HUN 43,66 50.00
Results Hungarian Flatland Cup Budapest, Hungary 13 October 2024
Men Flatland:
1 Alvaro HERNANDEZ 29 ESP 93 200.00 UCI Ranking points
2 Anatole RAHAIN 26 FRA 86.75 160.00
3 Martin DRAŽIL 42 CZE 83.75 130.00
4 Ákos BORDÁS 35 HUN 61 110.00
5 Martin KAPOSVÁRI 28 HUN 57 90.00
6 Jan STAVÁREK 33 CZE 50.5 70.00
7 Josef ŠMEHLÍK 33 CZE 48 50.00
8 Adam PEKAŘ 30 CZE 42.5 30.00
Women Flatland:
Results Dutch National Championships BMX Street, Skatepark Rotterdam Sunday 24 November 2024.
Street Men:
1. Mika Bunkers
2. Kimo van Hulst
3. Shawn Douglas
4. Rutger van Gent
5. Kareehm Richardson
6. Gioney Lupolissa
7. Jean-Thierry Sprokkelman
8. Luca Benini
9. Daan van Wijck Jurriaanse
10. Thomas Field
11. Jop Peeters
12. Beuk Beukelaar
13. Wyste de Vries
14. Bas Verkaart
Results 2024 British National Championships - Park & Flatland Adrenaline Alley, Corby, United Kingdom 23-24 November 2024
Park Men:
1 Kieran REILLY 23 GBR 96.4. 200.00 UCI Ranking points
2 Jordan CLARK 25 GBR 94.6 160.00
3 Reef WAY 19 GBR 92.7 130.00
4 Ashley FINLAY 30 GBR 89.8 110.00
5 Jude JONES 23 GBR 88 90.00
After doing a BMX 'zine for ten years (1987 - 1996) FATBMX made it on the internet. The year was 1998. Here to stay.