At the BMX World Cup Supercross races at Rock Hill, South Carolina, a good field of 173 professional riders from 27 countries competed over two days, with Dutch star Niek Kimmann clinching his second straight seasonal title with a win in the second race.
Only 13th on Friday, Kimmann won Saturday’s race and completed a streak of five wins in his last six events to compile a seasonal title of 1,005 points, which puts him beyond the reach of Alfredo Campo (ECU: 700) and France’s Joris Daudet (680) with just two races left in the season.
American Corben Sharrah, who won on Friday, moved up to seventh in the seasonal standings (555).
The women’s seasonal title is still up for grabs in the final weekend of competition coming on 28-29 September in Santiago del Estero (ARG). Dutch star Laura Smulders has won three World Cup title in a row and showed no intention of giving 2019 away, with tight wins on both Friday and Saturday. But her toughest competition – American Alise Willoughby – stayed close, finishing third and second, so going into the final two races of the season:
1. 970 points ~ Laura Smulders (NED)
2. 910 points ~ Alise Willoughby (USA)
3. 725 points ~ Judy Baauw (NED)
4. 695 points ~ Felicia Stancil (USA)
5. 685 points ~ Manon Valentino (FRA)
With 150-130-115 points for the top three places, only Smulders and Willoughby have realistic chances of winning the 2019 World Cup unless both of them crash and don’t finish in one of the remaining races. But those two should have quite a fight to the finish. Summaries:
UCI BMX Supercross World Cuo
Rock Hill, South Carolina (USA) ~ 13-14 September 2019
(Full results here)
Men I: Corben Sharrah (USA), 32.825; 2. Connor Fields (USA), 33.328; 3. Isaac Kennedy (AUS), 33.529; 4. Alfredo Campo (ECU), 34.078; 5. Twan van Gendt (NED), 34.180.
Men II: 1. Niek Kimmann (NED), 32.916; 2. Campo (ECU), 33.311; 3. Dave van den Burg (NED), 33.563; 4. Sharrah (USA), 33.956; 5. Sylvain Andre (FRA), 34.296. Also: 8. Fields (USA), 34.971.
Women I: 1. Laura Smulders (NED), 33.571; 2. Natalia Afremova (RUS), 33.975; 3. Alise Willoughby (USA), 34.232; 4. Felicia Stancil (USA), 34.651; 5. Saya Sakakibara (AUS), 34.684. Also: 6. Brooke Crain (USA), 35.007.
Women II: 1. Smulders (NED), 33.275; 2. Willoughby (USA), 33.345; 3. Afremova (RUS), 33.765; 4. Sakakibara (AUS), 34.182; 5. Lauren Reynolds (SUS), 34.381. Also: 6. Stancil (USA), 34.423.
