For the fifth consecutive year, the BMX racing community met up in Santiago del Estero, Argentina, for the UCI BMX Supercross World Cup. It was the last stopover - for rounds 5 & 6 – of this year’s World Cup series.
Argentineans Exequiel Torres and Gonzalo Molina delighted the home crowds on Saturday by finishing 1st and 2nd in the Elite Men class. UCI World Cup leader Sylvain André (FRA) rounded off the Men’s podium. Although UCI BMX SX World Cup leader Laura Smulders (NED) had a crash in the first qualifying heat, the Dutch National Champion got back up to finish second behind Olympic Champion Mariana Pajón (COL) to hold on to her series lead with one more round to go. Denmark's Simone Christensen crossed the finish line in 3rd but moved down from 2nd to 3rd in the overall ranking as Pajón passed her for second.
With the final UCI World Cup titles on the line Sunday, the pressure was on the leaders of the series. Sylvain André crashed during practice but got back up and pulled off an amazing race in front of a sold-out crowd to finish 3rd. This time Argentina did not make it onto the podium but the crowd nevertheless reserved huge cheers for Colombian Carlos Ramirez (2nd) and American Connor Fields (1st). André secured the UCI BMX SX World Cup title for 2017, his first overall UCI World Cup title ever. Mariana Diaz (ARG) did the unexpected by finishing third on Sunday in the Elite Women class. Three Argentinean podium spots for the local organiser were a reason for celebration. Laura Smulders needed to finish 7th or better to grab the overall 2017 title if Mariana Pajón was victorious on Sunday. And she did. Pajón won the final race by just 0.055 of a second over 2017 UCI BMX World Cup winner Smulders.
Results & standings
Test event for 2018 UCI BMX World Championships, Baku, Azerbaijan, 27-29 October 2017
Exequiel Torres comes from a small town in Argentina and grew up riding BMX: from the age of 7, riding borrowed bikes on less-than-perfect tracks, he developed strong willpower and excellent skills that saw him secure a spot on the national team for the 2015 UCI BMX World Championships in Heusden-Zolder (BEL). Before the competition, a determined Exequiel said he would win the 2015 Junior title. And he did… on a borrowed bike. Now, two years later, the “Maradona of BMX” has captured his first UCI BMX Supercross World Cup win.
[INSTAGRAM ID="https://www.instagram.com/p/BZMjkh5nVAz/?taken-by=lauraasmulders"]