UCI BMX Racing World Cup: Round 1 & 2
The 2023 UCI BMX World Cup is off and running and LUXBMX has a heavy presence through our boys Izaac Kennedy and Rico Bearman.
Round 1 & 2 were held in Sakarya, Turkey over the weekend of 3 & 4 June and kickstarted the 2023 world cup series. This series is noted as being of importance in that the 2024 Paris olympics loom large, with this UCI world cup offering up Olympic qualifying and ranking points - covering Elite men and women as well as Under 23 men and women.
Tell you what, it is cool to see a UCI event in a country like Turkey, not necessarily known for BMX. Taking in the official UCI video (embedded below), it was awesome to see the adjoining landscape, very different to what you would normally see. Continuing this form, the balance events take place in Nedtherlands, France and Argentina over another 8 rounds. As such, it is critical to come out the gates hot and pick up those all important points.
Speaking of hot out the gate, NZ based LUXBMX racer Rico Bearman did just that, taking out the Under 23 title over both rounds in a dominant performance. Signed to LUXBMX in 2023, Rico's friendship with Izaac combined with his well-balanced attitude to BMX and unrelenting athleticism meant it was an easy decision to throw our support behind the dude. It is then wild (and equally unsurprising) to see Rico in that number 1 spot at a world recognised event such as the UCI world cup.
Rico cruising over the finish line, stoked, chilling and assertive
Rico (centre), number 1 at Sakarya 2023
Take a watch of the official UCI video to see Rico down a pack of hopefuls with his powerful first straight - from 1 hour 23 and 30 seconds. With an equally quick start, it didn't take long for Rico to assert his force, finding joy in the inside lane and heading to the pro-straight with a good 3 bike lead after the first turn. The race was won from there, an incredible feat. The video is great in that it also shows the podium presentation, interviews with riders and a bit of behind the scenes for context.
Izaac (number 6) coming out of the first turn
Izaac on the podium with the peak of the French competitors, Romain and Joris
Moving to Elite men and the opportunity for LUXBMX pro-racer Izaac Kennedy to hone his presence in the professional BMX ranks. Dedicated to chasing Olympic gold, Izaac is in the peak of his BMX career and it's beautiful to watch. Australia has always punched above its weight in BMX racing and Izaac is now at the precipice of the current group of elite riders. Despite bowing out in the semi-final for Round 1 after a squeezed first straight, Izaac came back stronger than ever for Round 2 finding himself in the final 8. Again finding himself shuttled to the back of the pack at the bottom of the start hill, Izaac harnesses incredible skill to manoeuvre through the pack to come out of the first turn in 4th and then make his way to 3rd coming into the second turn. At such high speeds and amongst a pack of 7 other riders, this is crazy and I still can't figure out how he pulled off that first turn move. Stacked with Colombian and French riders, Izaac's 3rd place finish is a positive step to what is hopefully an impactful year, highlighting his menacing position at the heels of stalwarts like Joris Daudet and Romain Mahieu. Take a look from 1 hour and 40 minutes to skip straight to this race.
We couldn't be prouder to see the boys fly the flag for both Australian and New Zealand BMX racing as well as for LUXBMX. Keep up with the UCI BMX world cup over 2023 to see if Izaac and Rico continue to stack points and podium spots and hit the LUXBMX online store to cop some of the best BMX race gear available.
