The Velosolutions UCI Pump Track World Championships headed to China for the first time, with the world’s best pump track riders racing at a brand-new venue in Mentougou. After a day of exhilarating competition, Switzerland’s Nadine Aeberhard ended Czechia’s Sabina Košárková’s reign as women’s UCI World Champion, while the Netherlands’ Jesse Elzenga turned last year’s bronze medal into gold in the men’s event.
After a season of qualifying events around the world, 95 elite riders from 29 nations travelled to Mentougou, in the mountains west of Beijing. They raced on a new 275-metre pump track whose defining feature was the Great Wall Towers. The venue also marked a milestone for Velosolutions: it was the 1,000th track the company had built.
Because of the weather forecast, racing was brought forward by a day, from Saturday 17 October to Friday 16 October. Riders began with a timed qualifying session in the morning, and the fastest 16 women and 16 men progressed to the evening’s knockout rounds: the round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals.
Aeberhard dethrones Košárková
In the women’s competition, Aeberhard and Košárková came through competitive qualifying rounds to meet in the final, a repeat of the 2024 final in Durban, South Africa. There, Košárková, then 19, narrowly beat Aeberhard to win her first UCI world title, clocking 19.100 seconds to Aeberhard’s 19.171. The following year, she successfully defended her title in Monthey, Switzerland, holding off home rider Christa von Niederhäusern by less than two-hundredths of a second: 22.424 seconds to 22.441.
Almost two years after their final in Durban, Aeberhard turned the tables in Beijing. She stopped the clock at 29.593 seconds to Košárková’s 29.678, beating the two-time UCI World Champion by just 0.085 seconds. It was a brilliant effort from Aeberhard, but also a fantasitc effort from Košárková, who raced in Beijing with a broken metacarpal.
Behind them, Latvia’s Vineta Pētersone took bronze, beating von Niederhäusern in the small final with a time of 30.308 seconds.
Victory in China continued a strong 2026 for Aeberhard, who also competes in the Women Elite category of the UCI BMX Racing World Cup. In June, she finished fifth and fourth in rounds three and four at Papendal (the Netherlands), followed by seventh in the Elite final of the UEC European BMX Racing Championships in Sarrians, France, later that month. At previous European Championships, she won bronze in 2024 and finished eighth in 2025.
Elzenga storms to the rainbow jersey
In the men’s competition, Elzenga signalled his intent early, posting the fastest time of the day in the quarter-finals: 27.070 seconds. Could he carry that speed into the final, with the rainbow jersey up for grabs? He would need to if he was to go two better than the bronze he won at the 2025 Velosolutions UCI Pump Track World Championships in Monthey, Switzerland, where he beat home rider Sirio Grünig in the small final.
In the final, he faced Ilya Beskrovnyy, winner of the Pretoria (South Africa) qualifying event earlier in the season, who was competing as an Individual Neutral Athlete (AIN). Beskrovnyy had looked strong and composed throughout the competition, but when it mattered, it was the Dutch rider who took the title, clocking 27.368 seconds to his opponent’s 27.696.
Switzerland’s Tristan Borel, runner-up in Monthey last year, claimed bronze, beating Sweden’s Love Sylwan in the small final by 27.443 seconds to 27.529.
Reflecting on his victory on Instagram, Elzenga wrote: “I am a World Champion. Gave it some time to sink in but it doesn’t feel real. This is a big childhood dream, which has become reality.
“First of all, I want to thank everyone for this amazing week. The vibe, the side quests, the crowd, it was all just perfect. “To become a world champion is something everyone dreams of achieving and to do it at just 19 years old, I couldn’t have asked for more. Thank you to everyone who’s supported me on the journey. Time to enjoy this time and have fun at the last World Cups.”
Away from pump track, Elzenga competes in the Men Under 23 category of the UCI BMX Racing World Cup, and he’ll be in Sarasota, Florida (USA), for the final two rounds of the season on 31 October and 1 November.
Next year, the UCI World Championships for pump track will take place in Saint-Pierre-en-Faucigny, France, joining the multi-discipline 2027 UCI Cycling World Championships in Haute-Savoie Mont-Blanc, which run from 24 August to 5 September.