There is more than the considerable prestige of winning titles at the Oceania BMX Racing Championships in Brisbane this weekend.
There are 20 New Zealand riders competing in championship competition, and many more in BMX Challenge (Age Group) racing including riders from under 5 years to over 60, along with competition in the Cruiser class, for larger size wheel diameter bikes.
There is added benefits racing at the Sleemans track at Chandler, a suburb 15kms from central Brisbane, with the upgraded track to host the UCI BMX Racing World Championships later in the year.
There are two kiwi riders in the elite men comprising the defending Oceania champion, Bennett Greenough from the Cambridge club and the experienced 31-year-old Michael Bias from North Harbour. Both kiwis ride professionally for French clubs – Bias for BMX Besancon and Greenough for St Paul.
The Greenough family forms a key part of the team with Bennett’s younger brother Jack, an under-23 world championship finalist last year, along junior world champion sister Lily, who is unfortunately sidelined this weekend with injury.
Cambridge rider Leila Walker, 20, will be a contender for elite women’s honours. She is the defending Oceania champion, a semifinalist in her first elite world championship, and competed in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
She is joined in the elite category by Rotorua’s Megan Williams, a consistently strong performer on the international scene.
There are around 200 kiwi entries in the Challenge and Cruiser class racing over the weekend in Brisbane, with the competition one of three events for World Championship selection for junior elite males and females,
New Zealand elite riders are:
Elite men: Bennett Greenough (Cambridge), Michael Bias (North Harbour).
U23: Jack Greenough (Cambridge), Jesse Green (Christchurch City), Finn Cogan (Cambridge), Nick Cowie (Southland).
Junior: Nico Cogan (Cambridge), Deacon Connor (North Harbour), Daniel Mason (Tauranga), Bryson Joyce (Mountain Raiders), Tyla Dinsdale (Whangarei), Kobi Russell (Cambridge), Jack Stanley (Alexandra).
Masters: Daniel Franks (Cambridge).
Elite Female: Megan Williams (Rotorua), Leila Walker (Cambridge).
Under 23: Brooke Penny (Cambridge).
Junior: Azaria Thornley (North Avon), Madeleine Hunter (Mountain Raiders).
