Michael Bias clears a jump at the UCI BMX Supercross World Cup in Shepparton, Victoria. Photo / Ian Bias
Michael Bias clears a jump at the UCI BMX Supercross World Cup in Shepparton, Victoria. Photo / Ian Bias
New Zealand's female BMX riders are on a mission to qualify for two spots for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
To do so, they need to gain as many qualification points as possible at BMX events this year and at the weekend they made an encouraging start in the opening rounds of the UCI Supercross World Cup in Victoria, Australia.
Te Awamutu's Rebecca Petch qualified for the semifinals on both days of the double-round while Sarah Walker made the semifinals on the second day at the new facility in Shepparton, in country Victoria.
Their points will help close the gap from their current position of seventh on the Olympic rankings with the third to fifth ranked nations securing qualification for two riders for Tokyo, and sixth to 11th getting one spot each. There are five double-header world cup competitions and the world championships scheduled before the June 1 cut-off.
Petch is New Zealand's top ranked rider at 21 in the world and finished sixth in the semifinal on day one, just 0.8s off making the final. On day two she was second in qualifying, winning her first round and coming second in the quarterfinal. However, she got squeezed from a wide gate on the big first jump in the semifinal which cost any chance of a decent finish.
Walker, who went out in the quarterfinals on the first day, was strong throughout day two, finishing second in qualifying, third in the eighth-round and fourth in the quarterfinals. She appeared to pull a pedal out of the gate in the semifinal, recovering but not progressing to the final.
It was a successful weekend for American world champion Alise Willoughby, who won the final on both days.
North Harbour's Michael Bias also enjoyed an outstanding first day, making it through to the quarterfinals of the men's competition and finishing 17th overall.
Michael Bias clears a jump at the UCI BMX Supercross World Cup in Shepparton. Photo / Ian Bias
Bias was second behind former world champion Sylvan Andre, of France, in his opening moto before sneaking through with fourth and last qualifying spot in the round of 16. Ranked 52nd in the world, he rode a smart race to avoid some major collisions and finish third in his eighth-round before he was pipped by just 0.7s for the final qualifying place in the quarterfinal.
On the second day both Bias and Te Awamutu's Cole McOnie made it through qualifying. Bias won his moto impressively while McOnie got through to the main draw in the last chance repechage, but did not progress.
Bias was second in the round of 16 but got squeezed out of the gate between two French riders in the eighth-round to finish 31st overall.
Former world champions Niek Kimmann (Netherlands) and Connor Fields (USA) were the overall male winners at the weekend.
The New Zealand contingent, also including Rico D'Anvers, Rico Bearman, and Luey Cotton, will head to the Blue Mountains with two further rounds to be staged on another new facility at Bathurst this weekend, where junior world champion Jessie Smith hopes to make her season debut after sitting out Shepparton with ill-health.
