Is China the future of BMX Freestyle? The last stop of the 2023 UCI BMX Freestyle World Cup took place in Bazhong, China. It was a long travel for most but once arrived at the permanent BMX freestyle facility it was clear that the Chinese are serious about the future. The Women park riders have already made their mark on the UCI World Cup circuit but it was the junior riders that impressed everyone. The warm-up section with foam pit and resi section behind the park was used all day by not only the World Cup riders but especially the Juniors. Their energy is endless. Their tricks are up to par with the higher classes. It’s almost scary to think what’s in store for the future of BMX coming out of China.
The last stop of the 2023 UCI BMX Freestyle Park World Cup would decide who would go home with the title for this year. 28 Women signed up trying to make it to the final. With 6 riders from China making it to the final 12 in Bazhong it only confirms their domination. 43 Men entered the Park comp. The permanent ramp set-up was on the small side for them Men and had different transitions than usual but as always, adapting is key. Bigger names not making it out to the semifinal were a.o. Jose Torres Gil (ARG) and Justin Dowell (USA) who both suffered from a flat tire. In the semi-final a cut was made from 24 to 12 and things got wild there. Every single rider has the ability to make it through to the final round but it’s the riding that is done during the run that counts. Little mistakes, blank airs, pedal slips, it gets down to small details for the judges to decide who gets a high enough score to go to the final.
With two 60-second runs each and the best run counting, that job is never easy. Most riders pulled at least one good run. Missing the cut by just 0.1 points was Costa Rica’s Kenneth Tencio who, in his first 8 seconds already did three awesome tricks. The way he starts his runs with a flair drop-in is amazing and takes risk. He kept going till the very end but came up short to make the final. On the bubble also were Alec Danelutti (AUS) and Declan Brooks (GBR). It shows how high the level is these days. A simple cruise to the final does not exist anymore. A few names in Women Park that missed out on riding the final of the World Cup under the roof were Macarena Perez (Chile), the talented Kim Lea Müller (GER) and Queen Saray Villegas (COL). With the Chinese riders upping the level it is getting harder and hard to cut into the top 12 at each stop.
After a grey day during practice on Thursday the sun had come out for the rest of the weekend. The grandstands were full, the big screen showed the replays, the sound was blasting. In short; let the finals begin! Hannah Roberts (USA) was the UCI World Cup ranking leader coming into the last stop. The Chinese riders weren’t going to give it to her for free so the American had to push her personal limit to perform at her best. Hannah ended up on the podium but in between Sibei Sun (CHN) for third and Ya Wen Deng (CHN) for the win. The power that Ya Wen brought to the FOP was strong. She even improved her first run score of 90.10 with a 93.84 which brought the public to their feet. A UCI World Cup win on home territory is one not to forget. Congrats to team China on the results. Hannah Roberts ended up with the 2023 UCI World Cup overall title. It won’t be easy to repeat that for 2024 but time will tell.
Olympic champ Logan Martin had a pretty comfortable lead coming into the last round and when he qualified for the final in 4 th place, his first goal was reached. His direct competitors (Marcus Christopher USA, Anthony Jeanjean FRA, Kieran Reilly GBR and Rimu Nakamura JPN) in the ranking also made it to the finals so it was going to be a good one. When Daniel Dhers (VEN) set the bar with a flawless run that involved his hardest tricks, the bar was set. Marin Rantes (CRO) topped Dhers and took the lead. But heat two in the final brought some more heavy hitters. Anthony Jeanjean, Kieran Reilly and Logan Martin changed leading positions several times which contributed to the show. With extra flips, rotations, tailwhips and barspins the final heated up. Logan brought the forwards bike flip, Kieran pulled a double flair and Jeanjean double backflipped and ended up in 1-2-3 in that order. The results gave Logan Martin the 2023 UCI BMX Freestyle World Cup Overall followed by Reilly and Jeanjean for third.
The 2023 UCI BMX Freestyle overall titles went to:
Men Park: Logan Martin (AUS)
Women Park: Hannah Roberts (USA)
Men Flatland: Yu Shoji (JPN)
Women Flatland: Aude Cassagne (FRA)
BdJ
Photos by Bart de Jong / @fatbmx
Full results
Men Park:
1 Logan MARTIN 30 AUS 1000.00 UCI Ranking points
2 Kieran REILLY 22 GBR 900.00
3 Anthony JEANJEAN 25 FRA 820.00
4 Marin RANTEŠ 28 CRO 770.00
5 Marcus CHRISTOPHER 21 USA 720.00
6 Nick BRUCE 31 USA 670.00
7 Dylan HESSEY 20 GBR 620.00
8 Daniel DHERS 38 VEN 570.00
9 Gustavo BATISTA DE OLIVEIRA 21 BRA 520.00
10 Brian FOX 28 USA 470.00
11 Rimu NAKAMURA 21 JPN 430.00
12 Daniel SANDOVAL 29 USA 390.00
13 Kenneth Fabian TENCIO ESQUIVEL 30 CRC 350.00
14 Alec DANELUTTI 23 AUS 310.00
15 Declan BROOKS 27 GBR 270.00
16 Jeffrey WHALEY 27 CAN 230.00
17 Jacob THIEM 23 USA 200.00
18 Jude JONES 22 GBR 170.00
19 Bryce TRYON 23 USA 140.00
20 Ernests ZEBOLDS 24 LAT 110.00
21 Maxime CHALIFOUR 24 CAN 90.00
22 Joji MIZOGAKI 17 JPN 70.00
23 Kevin PERAZA GARCIA 29 MEX 50.00
24 Istvan CAILLET 31 FRA 40.00
25 Zoltán ÚJVÁRY 23 HUN 30.00
26 Justin DOWELL 23 USA 29.00
27 Levi WEIDMANN 23 NED 28.00
28 Paul THÖLEN 25 GER 27.00
29 Ryan NYQUIST 44 USA 26.00
30 Tianwang WEI 19 CHN 25.00
31 Jose TORRES GIL 28 ARG 24.00
32 Shuotang LIN 19 CHN 23.00
33 Tomass GRINBERGS 26 LAT 22.00
34 Tom CLEMENS 18 GER 21.00
35 Martynas LAGAUSKAS 27 LTU 20.00
36 Caio DE OLIVEIRA SOUSA 30 BRA 19.00
37 Xiaolong SHA 21 CHN 18.00
38 Kaede OZAWA 16 JPN 17.00
39 Kevin FABREGUE 28 FRA 16.00
40 Zoltán KEMPF 27 HUN 15.00
41 Kim YEONHO 21 KOR 14.00
42 Jui Chun KAO 21 TPE 13.00
Women Park:
1 Yawen DENG 18 CHN 1000.00
2 Hannah ROBERTS 22 USA 900.00
3 Sibei SUN 18 CHN 820.00
4 Natalya DIEHM 26 AUS 770.00
5 Iveta MICULYČOVÁ 18 CZE 720.00
6 Zihui FAN 19 CHN 670.00
7 Nikita DUCARROZ 27 SUI 620.00
8 Huimin ZHOU 18 CHN 570.00
9 Charlotte WORTHINGTON 27 GBR 520.00
10 Jiaqi SUN 19 CHN 470.00
11 Honglin XIA 17 CHN 430.00
12 Sarah NICKI 16 AUS 390.00
13 Macarena PEREZ GRASSET 27 CHI 350.00
14 Kim Lea MÜLLER 21 GER 310.00
15 Queen VILLEGAS SERNA 20 COL 270.00
16 Qian ZHENG 20 CHN 230.00
17 Laury PEREZ 20 FRA 200.00
18 Angie MARINO 33 USA 170.00
19 Sasha PARDOE 17 GBR 140.00
20 Analia Gabriela ZACARIAS 34 ARG 110.00
21 Lara Marie LESSMANN 23 GER 90.00
22 Agustina ROTH 22 ARG 70.00
23 Valeriia LIUBIMOVA 19 FRA 50.00
24 Eduarda BORDIGNON 23 BRA 40.00
25 Nene NAITO 17 JPN 30.00
26 Carolina DE SOUZA BITTENCOURT 23 BRA 29.00
27 Cory COFFEY 41 USA 28.00
28 Sinai OH 15 KOR 27.00
Riders from Slovakia, Germany and Hungary battled at the C1 BMX Park Hungarian Cup Series - Round 3 Debrecen, Hungary on 16 September 2023. The results can be found below. See who scored most UCI ranking points in Hungary this past Saturday.
Men Park:
1 Zoltán ÚJVÁRY 23 HUN 80.6 200.00
2 Zoltán KEMPF 27 HUN 75.5 160.00
3 Péter NÁHLIK 23 HUN 70.3 130.00
4 Gergő ZÖLD 25 HUN 69 110.00
5 Tomáš TOHOL 19 SVK 68.9 90.00
6 Milán JÓZSA 24 HUN 51 70.00
7 Márk VUKMAN 28 HUN 45 50.00
8 Hans Wilhelm KITTLER 19 GER 16.3 30.00
9 Csepel CSERVENÁK 27 HUN 61.83 20.00
10 János BÁBEL 19 HUN 42.33 10.00
11 Richard KOLEJÁK 17 SVK 37
Results Czech National Park/Flat Championship Pardubice, Czech Republic 16 September 2023
Flatland Men:
1 Martin DRAŽIL 41 CZE 200.00 UCI Ranking Points
2 Dominik NEKOLNÝ 37 CZE 160.00
3 Josef ŠMEHLÍK 32 CZE 130.00
4 Adam PEKAŘ 29 CZE 110.00
5 Jan STAVÁREK 32 CZE 90.00
The 4th and final stop on the French urban sports tour took place in Le Havre this weekend with 35,000 spectators and 200 riders taking part in the 4 competing disciplines: BMX Freestyle Park, Skateboard Bowl, Roller Freestyle Park and Scooter Bowl. In front of 35,000 over-motivated spectators over three days, top national and European riders and local talent came out in force to set fire to the ramps of the BMX Freestyle Park and string together tricks on the curves of the legendary Bowl du Havre on the Esplanade de la Plage. Despite the capricious weather at the end of the weekend, this FISE Xperience Series in Le Havre was an excellent stage with the special flavor of an edition full of stakes, almost a year away from the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. A very fine edition, thanks in particular to the
BMX Practice at Munich Mash 2023 was cut short due to some rain. Here's what went down before the showers hit.
Park Results American Continental Championships - Asuncion, Paraguay 07 May 2023
Men BMX PARK:
1 Daniel DHERS 38 VEN 84,33 500.00 UCI Ranking points
2 Kenneth TENCIO 30 CRC 82,83 450.00
3 Gustavo BATISTA DE OLIVEIRA 21 BRA 78,00 410.00
4 Jose CEDANO CABRERA 26 CHI 72,67 380.00
5 Jaden CHIPMAN 23 CAN 65,50 350.00
6 Ismael FRIES 27 ARG 63,50 320.00
7 Gabriel CHAVES 27 ARG 57,33 290.00
8 Caio DE OLIVEIRA SOUSA 30 BRA 54,83 270.00
9 Yohnatan DA CUNHA BURGOS 29 URU 54,67 240.00
10 Juan CAICEDO HURTADO 21 COL 54,17 210.00
11 Luis RINCON REYES 25 COL 50,67 180.00
12 Juan VACA MARTINEZ 22 COL 50,42 160.00
13 Edy ALVIAREZ SANCHEZ 41 VEN 48,67 140.00
14 Diego GALDAMES SALAZAR 28 CHI 47,67 120.00
15 Job MONTAÑEZ SOTO 26 PER 47,50 100.00
16 Mario SOLANO 34 ARG 45,83 85.00
17 Mateo LLUBERAS DE LOS SANTOS 17 URU 70.00
18 Ismael ARROYO ROMERO 19 CHI 39,00 65.00
19 Danfer AGUILAR RÍOS 25 PER 38,25 50.00
20 Paulo SACCHELLI SAÇAKI 35 BRA 38,00 40.00
21 Dante TABUYO OCHOA 22 MEX 34,50 30.00
22 Angel Osvaldo PÁEZ MÉNDEZ 19 MEX 33,50 20.00
23 Victor PERAZA GARCIA 23 MEX 23,00 10.00
24 Pedro MOREL GIMENEZ 26 PAR 18,67 5.00
Women BMX PARK:
1 Macarena PEREZ GRASSET 27 CHI 60,17 500.00 UCI Ranking points
2 Katherine DIAZ DARMASE 34 VEN 52,50 450.00
3 Queen VILLEGAS SERNA 20 COL 52,17 410.00
4 Nazarena PEREZ 24 ARG 47,67 380.00
5 Eduarda BORDIGNON 23 BRA 36,83 350.00
6 Sofia BAEZ SCHARF 16 MEX 34,83 320.00
7 Cory COFFEY 41 USA 32,67 290.00
8 Carolina DE SOUZA BITTENCOURT 23 BRA 270.00
9 Patricia MARIN BORDON 26 PAR 21,33 240.00
10 Maria ROCHA SOTELDO 15 PER 20,17 210.00
11 Maria ROCHA SOTELDO 18 PER 15,67 180.00
12 Cielo PATIÑO 25 PAR 11,0 160.00
Chinese National Championships Qianjiang, Hubei Province, China 29 - 30 April 2023
Men Park:
1) Xiaolong SHA 21 CHN
2) Qifan ZHUANG 23 CHN
3) Shuhao ZHANG 18 CHN
4) Changliang LI 17 CHN
5) Jinghao GUO 16 CHN
6) Zhenle ZHANG 18 CHN
7) Xiaowei HUANG 18 CHN
8) Chang LU 17 CHN
9) Zeyang WANG 16 CHN
10) Yueqi XU 17 CHN
11) Zegao LI 19 CHN
12) Jishuo JIA 20 CHN
Women Park:
1) Shanshan LEI 17 CHN
Coming back after the italian nationals at the H-Farm freestyle park on Sunday for the International C1 I think we are being invaded from the UK! James Jones, Jack Maguire, Shaun Gornall and Kaine Mitchell are 4 of the 15 athletes booked for the event. The foreigners lineup is completed by Levi Weidmann (NED) Patryck Teul (POL) Marcin Oskiera (POL), Maxime Orsini (FRA) Krystof Odehnal (CZE). The Italian team is composed by Christian Ceresato, Gabriele Pala, Mattia Cazzola, Francesco Mongillo, Vittorio Galli and Elia Benetton the new Italian champion.
Alessandro Barbero left the gathering for an injury sustained yesterday during the Italian nationals. Christian Falvo, also injured, decided to stay to cheer on his teammates.
From wall rides to heli-drops, to a skatepark that's an optical illusion, Kriss Kyle's blockbuster BMX edits have pushed the boundaries of what's possible on a bike. But for his latest project, Don't Look Down, he's taken the sport to new heights (and pushed the boundaries of aeronautical engineering in the process).
The impossible dream.
I was mountain biking up this horrible hill behind my house. It was a beautiful day – blue sky and pure sun. A thought popped into my head – ’imagine riding a skatepark up in the air’. I first thought you could hang it under a Chinook helicopter, but when I dropped out of a much smaller helicopter in Dubai it was like jumping into a tornado.
My next thought was ‘what can you fly that gives off no wind?’. It had to be a hot air balloon. I was visualising it as I was pedalling up and quickly put it down in my notes on my phone before continuing on my ride. When I got home, I sketched up a hot air balloon with a bowl and a stickman underneath it.
Enter Oracle Red Bull Racing
I trust my build crew with my life. I wanted to cram as many BMX park features as we could into the bowl, but it’s okay because I like riding tight, weird stuff. They built me a prototype out of wood which ticked all the boxes, but it weighed six tonnes.
Bringing the heat to South Africa! Monster Energy congratulates their BMX riders on a full podium sweep at the Converse Ult.X 2023 BMX competition in Cape Town at V&A’s Battery Park this weekend. French phenom Anthony Jeanjean clenches first place, and teammates Daniel Sandoval (USA), and Mike Varga (Canada) earn second and third place. In the elite action sports contest recognized as the official African BMX championships, the Monster Energy athletes rose to the top three podium spots in an elite field of freestyle BMX riders.
Started in 2008, ULT.X is Africa’s biggest action sports festival, held annually with thousands in attendance. Presented by Monster Energy, the event took place at the iconic V&A Waterfront’s Battery
After doing a BMX 'zine for ten years (1987 - 1996) FATBMX made it on the internet. The year was 1998. Here to stay.