The 2023 Velosolutions UCI Pump Track World Championships take place at the Area 47 bike park at Ötztal, in Tyrol, Austria, on Saturday 18 November.
In this technical format of racing, riders do not turn the pedals, but balance on them and pump with their arms, legs and body to master the best lines on the contours of the purpose-built park and propel the bike forward.
Pump track racing is gaining increasing notoriety, with events across the world attracting more competitors and generating more viewers, both onsite and online. The qualifying competitions for the 2023 Velosolutions UCI Pump Track World Championships have been held in countries around the world between April and October.
Evolution of the UCI Pump Track World Championships
The first UCI Pump Track World Championships were held in 2019 in Köniz-Oberried, Switzerland, where both the women’s and men’s rainbow jerseys were won by American riders, Payton Ridenour, whose background is in BMX Racing, and dirt jumper Tommy Zula.
After the cancellation of the event in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the 2021 UCI World Championships were held in Lisbon, Portugal. To ensure fair opportunities, the event was open to qualified riders from 2020 and 2021, resulting in an extremely high quality field. The two winners at the Parque das Nações were European: the experienced Frenchman Eddy Clerté and Belgian teenager Aiko Gommers.
In 2022, the rainbow jerseys went to Switzerland’s Christa von Niederhäusern (bronze medalist in 2019 and 2021) and Niels Bensink (4th in 2021), of the Netherlands. Bensink had taken back-to-back wins at two qualifying events: on a BMX bike in Belgium then a mountain bike in Canada, opening some eyes to the possibilities of hitting the heights on a 26-in-wheeled mountain bike. However, it was on a BMX bike that he took the rainbow bands in Santiago, Chile, where 65 athletes from 21 countries competed on the Santa Fe track, designed by organisers Velosolutions.
Each year the number and diversity of riders and the quality of competition has continued to grow. South America was also due to host this year’s Velosolutions UCI Pump Track World Championships, in Neuquén, Argentina, but political unrest resulted in the relocation of the event to Ötztal, Austria, in the interests of rider safety.
Racing at Area 47
Area 47 – named because it is situated precisely at Earth’s 47th parallel north – is Austria’s largest (9.5 hectares) outdoor adventure park, proposing a range of activities on wheels and water. There’s a skills zone with a root section, rock garden, drops and switchbacks. The brand new indoor bike park has a jump track with different sized roll-ins and an airbag. It boasts 1,000 square metres of pump track space, with 140 metres of flow track featuring two distinct lines. And it’s here that the riders will go head to head at the 2023 Velosolutions UCI Pump Track World Championships.
Area 47 hosted the last-chance qualifier on 4 November, giving riders the opportunity to see the track ahead of the UCI World Champoinships. Among the 47 competitors hoping to succeed at Area 47, it was the Swiss rider, Tanguy Grandjean and Slovakian Kristína Nováková who came away with the honours.
They will face a high quality field in Austria, including reigning and former UCI World Champions Niels Bensink, Aiko Gommers, Thomas Zula and Christa Von Niederhäusern.
Home rider Thessalie Bruneau led the women in Mont-Sainte-Anne, Canada, and Americans Carly Kane and Alec Bob - the silver medalist last year - in Texas (USA). Aussie Ryan Gilchrist and Kiwi Holly Oldham took the wins in Christchurch (New Zealand) while the Slovakian pair of Daniel Hradský and Kristína Madarásová went through at the Czech venue, Tošovice. Shi Ruifang, Chen Jiayang and Zhao Wanting qualified in Deqing, China, 2022 bronze medalist Thibault Dupont (FRA) and Christelle Boivin (SUI) came through in Saint-Laurent-de-la-Salanque (France) with Love Sylwan and Felicia Klingström the winners in Isabergstoppen, Sweden.
They’re among the world’s best riders set to give it all at the weekend. After practice on Thursday 16 and seeding runs on Friday 17, the 2023 Velosolutions UCI Pump Track World Championships will be raced in the afternoon of Saturday 18 November.