EN The Paris 2024 Olympic race was the last event where the best riders from around the world competed. This was true until last weekend. The French Sarrians started this year's UCI BMX Racing World Cup, which has a total of six rounds held on three tracks. World Cup Temperatures approaching 40 degrees Celsius accompanied competitors from all over the world throughout the week. You'd be hard pressed to find fault with the track, it was really well prepared and very, very fast. Many probably expected the dominance of the French competitors. And they got it. The Dutch also had a great weekend and may be on their way back to the top of the world bicross. We went to Sarrians in the composition of Sabina Košárková, Eliška Bartuňková, Viktor Oldřích Chudoba, Vít Gruntorád, Jakub Cidlinský, Jakub Vesecký and Marek Neužil (with the UCI training center team). For most of our crew, this weekend was their first World Cup experience. Nervousness and a certain tension were evident, and all this is information for the riders that they can and above all must work with for the next races. For example, Sabina Košárková was not new to this race. She is already an experienced competitor in the Women Under 23 category, who, for example, finished on the podium last year at the WC in Tulsa, USA. This year, she will take Saturday's 12th place from Sarrians, which was a disappointment for her. However, she overcame that on the very next day, where with her fast ride throughout the day, especially in the second half of the track, she reached the final and the overall seventh place! Viktor Oldřich Chudoba had a relatively successful debut at the SP. In the still junior category, he brazenly competed with the Men Under 23 riders, and with his stable and very smart riding performance, he will travel to the Dutch Papendal with a place in the quarter-finals on Saturday and the round of 16 on Sunday. For the rest of the expedition, the opening weekend of the SP ended rather as a disappointment, which we will want to get rid of in the next two rounds of the SP. Results: 1st round: Women U23: 1. Wissing (Netherlands), 2. Favrel (Fr.), 3. Hutt (Brit.), ... 12. Košárková . Women Elite: 1. Claessens (Switzerland), 2. Sakakibara (Autr.), 3. Simpson (Can.), ... 27. Bartuňková . Men U23: 1. Noordam (Netherlands), 2. Pieczanowsky (Fr.), 3. Asmus (Aust.), ... 27. Chudoba, 70. Neužil, 83. Cidlinský, 137. Vesecký, 154. Gruntorád. Men Elite: 1. Pilard (Fr.), 2. Kennedy (Aust.), 3. Andre (Fr.). 2nd round: Women U23: 1. Wissing, 2. Hutt, 3. Greenough (Brit.), ... 7. Košárková. Women Elite: 1. Simpson (Can.), 2. Shriever (Brit.), 3. Vaughn (USA), ... 18. Bartuňková . Men U23: 1. Noordam, 2. Asmus, 3. Geisse (Fr.), ... 33. Neužil, 47. Chudoba, 70. Cidlinský, 130. Vesecký. Men Elite: 1. Andre, 2. Pillard, 3. Kennedy. The World Cup continues next weekend in Papendal, Netherlands. Oliver Miltner, Elen Lapková, Vít Stloukal and Vít Novotný will join our expedition. Photo: Nico van Dartel