Eight New Zealand BMX riders ridden through to the quarterfinals on the opening day for elite riders at the UCI BMX Racing World Championships in Copenhagen.
Early rain made conditions tougher, especially for the junior riders, but conditions eased and dried as the day progressed.
Olympians Leila Walker (Cambridge) and Rico Bearman (North Harbour) are through to the quarterfinals in the elites, joined by North Harbour’s Michael Bias and Rotorua’s Megan Williams.
They will be joined by the Cambridge club pair of Lily Greenough and Finn Cogan in the juniors, and Jack Greenough (Cambridge) and Brooke Penny (Te Awamutu) in the under-23.
Morning rain dampened the early racing for juniors but improved as the day continued and dried considerably later in the day as elite riders moved through qualifying and then into elimination racing to reach the quarterfinals stage.
Lily Greenough continued the outstanding form of her European campaign to win her heat in junior women in the second fastest time to move directly to the quarterfinals.
In junior men Cogan impressed to progress in his heat and win his 1/8th round to secure his semifinal spot.
Teammates Cooper Richardson (North Harbour) and Nicholas Cowie (Southland) were both forced through to the Last Chance motos where both were eliminated.
In Under-23 racing, Penny enjoyed a short but profitable day, finishing third in her Round 1 moto which earned direct entry to the quarterfinals.
Jack Greenough was edged to fifth in his first round in under-23 men, but was impressive in winning his Last Chance moto in the fastest time and then was just 0.004s from the winner in his eighth final to secure his quarterfinal place.
Elite racers had to use their racecraft today, none more so than Michael Bias who was edged back to fifth in his first round but second in the Last Chance round to move to the one-eighth final. He was fourth to nab the next round to progress to the quarterfinals after a daring under-cut moved him from the rear of the pack into fourth but only half a second from the winner.
Bearman moved through in third in his opening round and after a mistake he pushed up to fourth in his one-eighth final to edge through to the quarters, where he will need his renowned gate speed to threaten chances against the big names.
Bennett Greenough could not join his brother and sister in tomorrow’s quarterfinals, after bowing out in the Last Chance round, just 0.01s from the final qualifying spot.
Walker qualified for the quarterfinals in elite women, finishing second to Dutch star Laura Smulders in her first round moto, showing her outstanding bike handling to progress. She takes on Smulders and her sister Merel in her quarterfinal.
Williams only just missed out on direct qualification but won her Last Chance moto with a strong ride to move into the quarterfinals, where she has drawn Olympic champion Saya Sakakibara and her Australian teammate Lauren Reynolds.