Americans Stancil and Fields win UEC round one at night race in Zolder. Treat: McDonald's! By BdJ

Apr 07, 2015

Written by Bart de Jong

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With 3088 entries the first round of the 2015 UEC series race on the World Championships track in Zolder, Belgium is a big one. Racers from all over the world took the opportunity to get an important race in the pocket looking forward to the world's this summer. With the first UCI BMX SX World Cup coming up in Manchester in two weeks, many riders used this race in Belgium to get used to the time change and the European way of living. Racers from Colombia, team USA, the Russians, a crew from Japan, many riders have set up camp at the

former Formula One circuit for the big race. The Elite and Junior races are scheduled for Friday and Saturday night. The first one took place on Friday evening and with the darkness setting in, the lights were turned on. But there was a problem with system and some of them did not work. It took some experts to figure out what the problem was but in the end they figured it was the snackbar and their deep fried oven and microwave that took too much power away from the lights on the track. But a race in Belgium with no fries with mayonaise is no race. The race started but then two lights turned off again. After a serious delay the competition started. And it was a good one. It was the first time top Americans raced the track, something organisor Gils de Vis was especially looking forward to.

Before thinking the facility is second class, it's not. The pump track next to the track was used all day by anyone who wanted to warm up. Parents had to drag away their kids having fun because they were thinking they left too much energy on the pump track. Next time people come over also the trails will be ready. The grandstands gave everyone a place to sit and the campsite was a one minute walk to the tent from the track. The media center was nice, the track itself is okay (everybody has their personal preferences), the medical crew makes sure the races can go on and of course we've got some Belgium techno music pumping out of the speakers. The big video wall with live feed is a nice touch. Although not perfect yet, the live feed is of high quality and this UEC race will be used to collect positive critisism to make the 2015 UCI World Champs the best race possible.

But as usual, the riders make the race. There was no lack of action all night coming from the Junior Men/Women and their Elite brothers and sisters. Maybe not everyone was racing for UEC points but if you get to this level of BMX racing, you're there to win races. What's on the line doesn't always make a difference. Seeing where you're at with your speed, skills and power is important at this point of time.

Let's be honest here, it was a long night in Zolder. The delays and big starter field caused the race to end after midnight. Keep in mind that the young ones had practice early the next morning and the teams still had to go back to their hotels and score something to eat. Dinner plans were cancelled and whatever was still open was used to fill the stomaches. Not ideal for pro athletes but you've got to work with what's available. Did I mention it was cold?
Personally I like watching Junior/Elite racing as the action is always there. The big starting hill, the speed, the crashing, the passing, the drama. For the riders it's tough sometimes to fill an evening program doing three moto's, a 1/8th final, 1/4 final, semi final and a main. That's a lot of hard work in only a few hours. Connor Fields and Felicia Stancil managed to win the Elite races. Two Americans showed the rest of the world they mean business in 2015. It was celebrated with a visit to McDonald's, but only because the drive-through was the only place that was open for dinner. Let's see how much that dinner affects their riding on Saturday. Stay tuned.

BdJ