Kiwi BMX pair chase rainbow jerseys in China

There’s one thing better than one rainbow jersey. That’s two of them. And that’s the aim of kiwi Olympic hopefuls Sarah Walker and Marc Willers in the UCI BMX World Championships in China this weekend.

Walker, 20, won the world title for the Cruiser class in her rookie year in the elite ranks last year in Canada.

BikeNZ national coach Ken Cools believes both riders are in great shape and focussed on success in the world championships in Taiyuan this weekend.

“Two rainbow jerseys - that’s what we are aiming for this weekend. And wouldn’t that be a great confidence booster for them both,” Cools said.

Cools, the top rated coach from Canada, believes the push for final selection for Beijing, where BMX will make its Olympic debut, will make for a no-holds-barred championship.

Willers and Walker are among only a handful of riders who have already secured qualifying places for Beijing.

“There’s probably only 10 riders who have locked up Olympic spots and this is the final event to qualify so it’s up in the air. All of the best riders are here and they will be out for blood,” Cools said.

“The key for Marc and Sarah is not to be concerned with all the brouhaha and just focus on their own race. They don’t have to worry about Beijing so they can just focus on this event.”

Cools said they have trained specifically for the world championships and are not looking ahead to Beijing yet. They have been training in Phoenix, Arizona where there are a number of tracks similar to the one at Taiyuan and also in the head they will face in China.

“The track is more to the style that they are used to rather than the Supercross tracks. It has a pretty tall starting hill but it is a technical and fast track which suits them. The Supercross tracks are more about jumping but this one is technical skill and jumps.

“They did not work quite as hard as they did in Europe but they’ve been on a gradual taper for this weekend. Both of them are in great shape. Sarah raced really well in Copenhagen at the Supercross and Marc was really flying but just made one small mistake on one jump that ended his event.”

Cools said the competition for Olympic spots will definitely make the racing even more competitive and physical – and crashes are part of the sport.

Willers (Cambridge) has been on the receiving end of this of late, crashing out in Supercross events at Adelaide and Copenhagen and also has memories of last year’s world championships when he crashed in the elimination round after winning all three qualifying motos. His recent mishaps in the Supercross events have seen his world ranking ease to No 5 from the top slot.

Walker (Kawerau) will take the world no 1 ranking into the weekend and will renew her rivalry with Great Britain’s world champion Shanaze Reade, who has yet to qualify for Beijing because she has been concentrating more on track cycling.

The young New Zealander, who was second to Reade last year and at the recent Supercross event, will also compete in the cruiser class, for the bigger sized wheel diameter where she will defend her rainbow jersey won in Vancouver last year.

Cools said the conditions may be a leveller with heavy smog and hot temperatures.

“The conditions are not great. There’s a constant smog problem and you can’t see more than 300m in front of you. Still we have to put all of that out of our minds and get on with the job.”

New Plymouth’s Victoria Hill is the other member of the BikeNZ High Performance squad at the worlds, competing in the junior elite class.

The championships begin tomorrow with the age group boys, with the age group girls and men’s and women’s masters on Friday, all elite classes on Saturday and the cruiser class on Sunday.