Close racing in Argentina at the UCI BMX Supercross World Cup

All results In front of a sold out crowd round four of the UCI BMX Supercross World Cup series took place under sunny conditions in Argentina. A few little changes had been made to the track in Argentina since the UCI BMX Supercross World Cup series was in town last year. All qualified riders were looking forward to race on it as it was wide open and had many places where passing was possible. The track was on the easy side and had a bit of everything. Favorites Liam Phillips and Tory Nyhaug (CAN) took care of some excitement in their first moto when Tory's rear wheel slipped in the first turn and Liam could not avoid the Canadian and went down as well. Both high ranked riders scored well enough in the remaining two qualifying heats to move on to the quarter finals, and later the final race of the day.

Unfortunately for the home crowd Gonzalo Molina, Lucas Bustos and favourite Frederico Villegas, all Argentineans, did not make it out of the quarters.

Making it through to the final race of the day were Connor Fields (USA) who was looking strong all day, Liam Phillips, Renato Rezende (BRA), Anthony Dean (AUS) who was aiming to get closer to Liam Phillips in the overall standings, Maris Strombergs (LAT) who had just won the last UCI Supercross World Cup round in Berlin, Tory Nyhaug, Van Gorkom (NED) and the ever consistent David Herman (USA).

Final time. On the inside, starting from lane one, Olympic BMX champion Maris Strombergs wasn't going to back down with Liam Phillips and Tory Nyhaug getting on his right hand side. In the first left hand 180 degree turn the Latvian made sure his elbow was in front of Liam's but that wasn't the end of it. In the second turn you could have thrown a blanket over the top six riders as everyone was looking for an opening to stick their front wheel in. Strombergs was leading the race but felt that Phillips was on his tail. The British railed the last turn and started sprinting towards the finish line trying to pass the Olympic champion. A photo finish was needed to see who won. Maris Strombergs got first place, Phillips finished a close second and Tory Nyhaug grabbed third place. The women division had two outstanding racers on the track all weekend: Alise Post (USA), and Mariana Pajon (COL). Whenever they were riding in the same race, they finished one and two. Whenever they rode separately they each seemed to win. Alise Post had the fastest lap time in the previous round and picked lane 1, the inside lane in the final race which in general has a bit of an advantage going into the first turn. Mariana and Alise both had a great start in the main and so did Melinda McLeod who started all the way in lane 7. A little mistake on the first straight cost Post the lead. Pajon accepted with both hands and lead the race from start to finish. Alise Post got out of the first turn in third but managed to pass Australian McLeod in the second turn and moved up to second place. McLeod finished a strong third while series leader Buchanan finished 7th but holds on to a stong lead in the 2014 World Cup.

The last round of the UCI BMX Supercross World Cup series will be held at Chula Vista, USA on 26-27 September 2014.