With the growing interest for women’s BMX racing, and to give the female athletes equal opportunities as the men, the UCI Management Committee have decided to introduce two World Championships cruiser categories for women. Elite Women Cruiser (19 years & older) & Junior Women Cruiser (17-18 years old) will be making its debut at the 2006 UCI BMX World Championships in Sao Paolo.
Furthermore, the UCI has acknowledged the interest for master categories in the 20” category, and decided to replace Men 17 & Over with the following 20” classes; Men 17-24 years old, Men 25-29 years old and Men 30 & over.
NEW RULES FOR 2006
The 2005 UCI Rule book will published shortly, where all rules that have been modified or added can be viewed (marked in red). Please consult the UCI rule book on the website; http://www.uci.ch/modello.asp?1stLevelID=H&level1=0&level2=0&idnews=2676
2006 UCI BMX WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS, SAO PAOLO BRAZIL
As announced during the UCI BMX Convention, the venue for the 2006 UCI BMX World Championships has been moved to Sao Paolo, Brazil. The World Championships will be held 28-30 July 2005, at the Mario Covas Olympic Park.
Apart from introducing Women’s Elite & Junior Cruiser classes in the World Championships, the UCI is also introducing qualifying criteria’s for the 20” Elite classes (Elite Men, Elite Women, Junior Men, Junior Women), where rider’s must have scored UCI ranking points (minimum 1 point) to be eligible to compete at the UCI BMX World Championships.
2006 UCI BMX SUPERCROSS WORLD CUP
The final round of the 2005 UCI BMX Supercross World Cup was successfully held in conjunction of the 5th stop of the Dew Action Sports Tour in San Jose, USA. The BMX Supercross World Cup was featured next to other action sports and was a great addition with the new BMX Supercross format. The event was broadcasted next day on NBC, and is considered the largest TV audience ever for a BMX racing event.
In 2006, the UCI BMX Supercross World Cup will be held over 3 rounds on several continents. The dates for the events have already been published on the UCI website, although the venues will be released shortly. To view the calendar, please visit; http://www.uci.ch/ucinet/uci.asp?page=Calendar&discipline=bmx&ryear=2006&ridercategory=me&continent=all&l=eng
2006 UCI HIGH LEVEL TRAINING
The UCI will continue with their successful High-Level training at the World Cycling Centre in Aigle, Switzerland. The inaugural 3-month training held in 2005, saw several athletes produce their best results ever, where the high-light was Sifiso Nhlapo (South Africa) becoming the UCI Junior Cruiser World Champion at the 2005 UCI BMX World Championships in Paris, France.
In 2006, the UCI will invite 15 athletes for 4-month high-level training, starting in April 2006. National Federations will shortly receive information how to submit applicants. Individual riders shall contact their National Federation respectively.
In addition to the 4-month high-level training, the UCI will also conduct one month training in September 2006 aimed for countries with less experienced riders.
Photo: BMXPIX.org
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