Australia's Freestyle BMX stars will continue their chase toward the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Rampfest Indoor Skate Park in Melbourne's inner west when it hosts the inaugural Oceania Freestyle BMX Championships from December 7-8. 

The weekend will include two Pro/Elite Competitions - the Oceania Championships and the Rampfest International C1.  Plus, amateur and junior competition classes for young riders to compete alongside the Pro’s.

Sydney's Brandon Loupos, who was crowned 2019 world champion earlier this month in China, will be in action along with 2017 world champion Logan Martin of the Gold Coast. 

“Winning the World Championships was a dream come true - it’s taken a bit to sink in, but I’m so grateful to everyone who helped me achieve this.  And now, I can’t wait to come down to Melbourne and ride in front of a home crowd again," said Loupos, who is also the reigning Australian National Champion having won the inaugural title at Rampfest in November 2018. 

The women's field will be headlined by Queensland's Natalya Diehm who launched into contention for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games after a stunning World Championship debut for Australia to finish sixth.

With Freestyle BMX included in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games for the first time, the Oceania Championships will be a key opportunity for top Australian athletes to earn critical qualification points for the games. 

Australia currently sits in second in the Olympic Points Rankings to the USA, with the top nation at the end of the qualification period (in May 2020) securing two athlete positions in the competition for Tokyo 2020.   

An incredible two days of competition is expected at Rampfest which will be open from 9am each day for anyone to come down and watch the action.

Entry for spectators is FREE.

Riders can enter the contest via the event website.

Details

• Event Date:  7-8 December 2019
• Location:  Rampfest Indoor Skate Park, 47-85 Hillary St, Braybrook VIC 3019
• Event Website:  rampfest.com.au

Australia’s para-cycling stars will be chasing Tokyo 2020 glory at Brisbane’s Anna Meares Velodrome when it hosts the 2019-2020 TISSOT UCI Track Cycling World Cup from December 13-15. 
​
Para-cycling will take centre stage across the three days with the event to include a UCI category 1 event for the time trial, individual pursuit and scratch race with critical qualifying points towards the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. 

Read more >>> brisbanetrackworldcup.com 

Dual Olympian Caroline Buchanan has burst back onto the BMX racing stage over the weekend after finding the podium twice in her first C1 and HC event since her accident back in late 2017.

The eight-time BMX and Mountain Bike world champion Buchanan suffered a horrific accident while driving an off-road vehicle on New Year's Eve in 2017 which resulted in life-threatening injuries, including a broken sternum, collapsed lungs, a broken nose and dangerous bleeding around her heart.  The injuries would keep her off the bike for nineteen months, with the 28-year-old suffering a number of setbacks during rehabilitation. 

Caroline's Indonesian comeback came at the Banyuwangi BMX International in Indonesia, which also had a multitude of talent on show including Australia's elite men's national series champion Joshua Boyton, junior rider Damon Hocking.

Lining up on the gate alongside Buchanan was New Zealand's Sarah Walker, and the pair squared off like they have on so many occasions in the elite women's class. 

Day 1 had Walker find the top spot on the podium, with Buchanan narrowly missing out after leading for the majority of the race. 

The following day was Australia's most successful, and for Buchanan, a big return to the international BMX racing stage as she beat home Walker to the top spot on the podium.

Madison gold to Annette Edmondson and Georgia Baker, Madison bronze to Sam Welsford and Leigh Howard, and omnium bronze to Edmondson highlighted round two of the 2019-20 Tissot UCI Track World Cup in Glasgow

"We head back home tomorrow, and then the New Zealand and Brisbane World Cups become our goals. There are not many more opportunities to race and practice, so to know what we are doing is working is great for the confidence," added Edmondson.  

Edmondson celebrated twice on the podium at the World Cup after claiming bronze in the four-event Omnium final. The 2015 omnium world champion finished on 111 points, just ten behind dual reigning world champion Kirsten Wild (NED). 

"Each race was close together, and it all came down to a hard points race and the final sprint to get ono the podium," said Edmondson, who finished sixth, third and fourth in the scratch, tempo and elimination races before grabbing a medal with third in the points race.

​"I'm satisfied with that performance, and we came here to try to be consistent with all the races and to make improvements on what we learned at Worlds. There were movements made forward with that regard, but still plenty of room for more improvements."

Reigning team pursuit world champion Sam Welsford and three-time Madison world champion Leigh Howard won bronze in the men's Madison. 

In a frantic race, the Australian duo were one of three teams with winners France and silver medalists Great Britain to take three laps in the 200-lap race. It was a gallant effort by the pair to find the podium after a crash by Howard with sixty laps to go, put pressure on the pairing as the race lifted in intensity over the final fifty laps. 

"We went into the race with a reasonably tight plan, and we executed it very close to what we envisaged," said Howard. "But the crash put us both under the pump, and in the end, the French pairing was too strong.

"We managed to hold third place, so not too shabby, but without the crash, I think we could have shaken things up a bit more in the last 50 laps, but that's bike racing!".

Welsford finished seventh in the omnium, while Howard donned his rainbow jersey to lead a young team pursuit quartet comprised of Podium Potential Academy duo Conor Leahy and Godfrey Slattery, and guest rider Joshua Duffy to seventh. Howard also finished fifth in the scratch race. 

Baker finished seventh in the scratch race, while she also teamed with Kristina Clonan and Macey Stewart plus Podium Potential Academy member Alexandra Martin-Wallace to finish sixth in the team pursuit. 

The Podium Potential Academy represented Australia in the sprint competition with Matthew Richardson, Tom Cornish and Tom Clarke finishing eighth in the team event. Clarke was ninth in the keirin, while Richardson was eleventh in the sprint.

​Caitlin Ward won her keirin heat, before going on to win the 7-12 final to finish seventh overall.

The Australian Cycling Team Podium Potential Academy (PPA) Endurance riders raced in support of the Sport Australia #findyour30 campaign.

Brandon Loupos claimed the rainbow jersey, Logan Martin took silver, while Natalya Diehm moved Australia a step closer to Olympic qualification, in a dominant display by Australia in the BMX Freestyle finals at the 2019 Urban Cycling World Championships in China on Sunday. 

"It (rainbow jersey) has been my phone background for 365 days, now it is on my chest, I can't believe it. I am absolutely speechless," said Loupos, the 2018 World Championship bronze medallist. 

"It just shows you dreams can come true if you put your mind and heart to it and you just go for it."

Loupos, 26, began Sunday's final in unfortunate circumstances, crashing on a backflip attempt in his first run. However, in a stunning second run, Loupos shot to the top of the leaderboard with a double backflip, flair whip, a 1080, a 720 into a double whip transfer and cash roll, before ending with a five flair scoring 93.20 points. 

"I can't believe what is going on right now, especially after crashing in my first run. I was thinking about whether I should change my run or stay consistent for my second run," Loupos said. "But I said stick to the plan, went out there and just charged. 

"I put everything into God's hands, I asked the Lord to give me the strength to get through the second run. Thank you to the man above watching over me, not for giving me the world title, but for allowing me to finish my run fit and healthy and be able to ride again tomorrow."

'sSydney's Loupos opened the 2019 season in stunning style by recording the highest score ever recorded at a World Cup at the first round in Japan in April. In September, he claimed gold at the inaugural Urban Games in Hungary. 

"I couldn't be happier. So stoked to be standing here right now, stoked to be Australian and representing Australia," said Loupos, who is targeting a spot on the Australian team for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games where the discipline will make its Olympic debut.
 
"My goal is to represent my country, I feel just being there (Tokyo) would be winning, but I want to go there and not just get a medal, but win a gold medal for my country."

2017 world champion Logan Martin scored 92.90 in a clean first run to sit just behind his teammate in second. But Queensland's Martin was felled by a flat tyre in his second run, the final run of the day, which sealed the world title for Loupos. 

"I was feeling good all weekend, and during practice today I also got a flat so I had to regain my composure, get my wheel fixed and back into the zone and do the run I had planned,"said Martin, 25, the dual 2019 X Games gold medallist who also finished the 2019 FISE World Series in second overall. "I did that and it got me into second place, but in my second run, I, unfortunately, got another flat.  

"But congratulations to Brandon, it was a great result for Australia."

Queensland's Natalya Diehm, 22, launched Australia into contention for the women's competition at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games after a stunning World Championship debut for Australia.

Diehm, finished sixth in the BMX Park Final to move Australia closer to securing a position at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

"My first run didn't go as planned, but I did my best in my second run, even though I was trying to play it safe," Diehm, who took out the 2019 Vans BMX Pro-Skate Park Series in her first international season.

Only nine women will get to contest the Freestyle competition in Tokyo, which will be comprised of two riders from the top-ranked nation, one rider from each nation ranked second to fifth, and one rider from host nation Japan. The final two spots will go to the next two best countries outside the top five at the end of qualifying in May.

"I am super happy for myself, and everyone here, and I hope this means we get a spot at the Tokyo Olympics," added Diehm.

​Martin, Loupos and Diehm will head back to Australia where they will contest the Oceania Championships in Melbourne followed by the 2019 Cycling Australia National Championships in Brisbane this December.

When Australian Cycling Team track sprinter Matthew Glaetzer had a sore neck in October, his first thought was that he suffered a bulged disc following a substantial period of strength training.  

Earlier this month, Glaetzer was diagnosed with thyroid cancer, with the South Australian dual world champion and dual Olympian undergoing surgery last week to remove the cancerous growth. 

“This all came about from me pulling up a bit sore in early October after doing a heavy leg press effort. I thought I had strained my neck somehow. 

“Then leading up to and at October’s Oceania Championships, I was seeing the physio almost every day, and it just wasn’t getting better at the rate that it should’ve been.”

Following the insistence of Australian Cycling Team staff, Glaetzer underwent further tests in Adelaide to find the underlying cause, with an MRI and ultrasound revealing nodules on his thyroid gland.

It wasn’t until he was hurriedly moved to the top of specialists’ waiting lists over the coming days that Glaetzer suspected it wasn’t due to him going too hard in the gym. 

“They had me contact my doctor in the next hour, have a CT scan and a biopsy. That afternoon was pretty hectic seeing specialists, so I had a feeling that it was probably going down the line that I didn’t want it to.”

Following the scans, Glaetzer continued his regular schedule, making a trip to Melbourne the next day for a session in the Monash University wind tunnel for Olympic equipment testing. 

On the way home in the taxi, Glaetzer received the phone call that would change his life. The doctor called to deliver the news he had thyroid cancer, with a silver lining that it was the most treatable form.

The dual world champion underwent surgery early last week and has been advised to allow the wound in his neck to heal and to keep his heart rate and blood pressure under control before resuming normal training in a few weeks. 

“You never want to hear that you’ve got cancer, it’s got such an ominous connotation to it, and it’s pretty heavy. And I’m there with some taxi driver next to me, and I’ve just been notified that I’ve got cancer and you need to take a moment and be ok. 

“But I anticipated this throughout the process, I was preparing myself for the worst-case scenario. I figured there's nothing I can do about it, at this point worrying about it wasn’t going to make it better. 

“So I drew on my faith in God, I knew that he had it under control. 

“I am thankful for the type of cancer that I do have and that it is treatable. I am grateful for the fact that my medical team caught it when they did, that they went through the steps, that they were very diligent in checking my sore neck that has then led to catching this.” 

Glaetzer is resolved not to let this stop his pursuit of a third Australian Olympic Team selection for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

“It helps me to deal with it if I downplay it, obviously I know it’s very serious, but at the same time, it’s very treatable. So it is now about what’s the plan from here, how can I minimise its impact on myself as an athlete. 

“Because I don't want to stop being an athlete anytime soon, I love what I do.  

“I’m not going to stop chasing the Olympics and trying to be the best in the world, it’s what I love to do. 

“It puts everything into perspective, but I’m not going to let this stop me. If I’m able to, and it's safe to, I'm not going to let this have power over what I want to do.

“It’s just going to set me up for my next charge and make me stronger.” 

Glaetzer still plans to contest two UCI Track World Cups in New Zealand and Brisbane in December, following which he will have further treatment in the form of iodine tablets. 

“I’m planning to go to the Cambridge and Brisbane World Cups to continue my preparation for the Tokyo Olympic Games. Then after the World Cups is when the next part of my treatment happens and that might knock me around for a bit. 

“But we have a rest week after the Brisbane World Cup anyway so it fits in relatively well to our preparation and the impact shouldn’t be too severe if all goes well.”

In addition to the support from his family and church congregation, Glaetzer is grateful for the support of the Australian Cycling Team. 

“The support network I have is incredible, the coaches, the medical staff and my church community who I told about the details have given me support, and it was a really good tight-knit group of people who were close to me and that were supporting me through the secret stage and keeping it under wraps up until the surgery. 

“It’s a pretty massive elephant in the room for me, so it helped me knowing my teammates knew, so if I got upset or if they saw something a bit unusual on a normal training day, they would know why and that helped me. 

“It’s a credit to the team we have here at Cycling Australia, and it’s about more than just cycling. We care about each other, we care about each other outside of cycling, and that’s shown through the last two weeks.”

With a favourable prognosis due to catching the cancer so early, Glaetzer is calling on all men to make sure they have regular health checks. 

“Going through everything that I have, it has just highlighted that if there is anything unusual or if there’s something that’s not normal to you, then you need to go and get it checked. 

“In my case, I’m grateful that I had a sore neck and that I went through the super detailed process of checking it. 

“So many guys have the ‘yeah that’ll be right, it’ll get better’ mentality, but you don't know what it could be, or how it could impact you and your family in the future. 

“So I just recommend to blokes that if there's anything unusual, just go and find out what's going on.

Brisbane's Natalya Diehm will sport the Australian Team green and gold for the first time this weekend as she embarks on her maiden World Championships campaign.

The 2019 UCI Urban World Championships in Chengdu, China, will also double as a key qualifying opportunity for Diehm the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games where the sport will make its debut.

Diehm, 22, who started in the sport at the age of eight years at a local skatepark on her ride home from school, only launched her international career twelve months ago.

She enters the 2019 World Championships off the back of victory in the 2019 Vans BMX Pro Cup which featured events in the USA, Australia, Germany and Mexico.

"I've had some massive highs this year like winning Vans, but coming into Worlds there's a different kind of pressure," Diehm said. "I'm just wanting to perform at my best and hope it all goes well."

Only nine women will get to contest the Tokyo 2020 Games Freestyle competition comprised of two riders from the top ranked nation, one rider from each nation ranked second to fifth, with one rider automatically qualifying from host nation Japan.

With Australia currently ranked tenth, and the World Championships one of the last key events before the qualifying ends in May, Diehm is hoping to secure as many qualifying points this weekend to Australia is one of the top two nations outside the top five.

"My goal is try and qualify for a spot in the 2020 Olympics. All I can do is my best and hopefully that gets me a spot."

As Australia's lone female competitor at the Worlds, and just one of a handful women who compete in the sport domestically, Diehm understands the challenges for women competing in the fledgling discipline.

"It has been a struggle, but when you love something so much you find a way to be able to continue. I would love to see more women in Australia get into the sport!"

Diehm will take part in qualifying on Saturday, with finals on Sunday.

2019 World Championships

The 2019 UCI Urban Cycling World Championships will take place in Chengdu, China, from 6-10 November 2019. 
​

• Team Australia Hub australiancyclingteam.com/urbanworlds19
• Championship Website www.urbanworlds.cn 
  
• Results uci.org/uci-urban-cycling-world-championships 

ELITE MEN

• Logan Martin - Gold Coast: 2017 World Champion; Current leader - 2019 FISE World Cup Standings; Dual gold - 2019 Summer X Games; 2nd - 2019 Urban World Games
• Brandon Loupos - Sydney: Gold - 2019 Urban Games winner; Bronze - 2018 World Championships; Gold - 2019 World Cup Round 1,  2018 National Champion
• Jake Wallwork - Melbourne: Gold -2018 World Cup Round 3; 4th - 2018 World Championships: 3rd - 2018 National Championships 
• Jason Watts - Melbourne:  2019 Vans BMX Pro-Skate Park Series: 2nd - 2018 National Championships. 

ELITE WOMEN

• Natalya Diehm - Gladstone: Winner - 2019 Vans BMX Pro-Skate Park Series; 9th/13th 2019 World Cups

Reigning team pursuit world champion Annette Edmondson (SA) will leave no stone unturned as she strives towards representing Australia on home soil at the 2019-2020 Tissot UCI Track Cycling World Cup to be held at Brisbane’s Anna Meares Velodrome from 13-15 December. 

Edmondson and the Australian Cycling Team’s best will battle for gold across the three-day event which acts the penultimate round of the World Cup Series and a chance to grab valuable qualifying points for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

“There’s nothing like home soil, we had the 2012 World Championships on home soil and the 2018 Commonwealth Games and that was incredible,” said Edmondson. “It’s been three years since I’ve worn these rainbows and you never take it for granted.

"To have another chance to represent Australia, in the rainbows in the team pursuit, with a home crowd, that is amazing.”

Read the full story here >>> ​brisbanetrackworldcup.com

Australia's Logan Martin has finished second overall in the 2019 BMX Freestyle Park World Cup Series. 

The third and final round of the International Festival of Extreme Sports (FISE) World Series in Chengdu, China was cancelled due to heavy rain prior to the men's final.

With no final being held, Nakumara topped the final podium due to his semi-final score of 93.20 points, with Martin taking fourth. 

Nakumara also took the victory in the overall standings with 26.200 points, followed by 2017 world champion Martin on 24.100 and reigning world champion Justin Dowell (USA) on 23.400.

"Not a bad results with Worlds next week, I will go there and do my best there as well." said Martin. 

Martin will now switch his focus to the 2019 BMX Freestyle World Championships also to be held in Chengdu, China from November 6-10. 

The Australian Team is headlined by 2017 world champion Martin and 2018 World Championship bronze medallist Brandon Loupos.

Jake Wallwork, who finished just off the podium at the 2018 World Championships, will also line up.

Jason Watts and Natalya Diehm will make their Australian Team debuts off the back of winning the 2019 Vans BMX Pro-Skate Park Series. 

2019 World Championships

The 2019 UCI Urban Cycling World Championships will take place in Chengdu, China, from 6-10 November 2019. 

Website → www.urbanworlds.cn 
Results → https://www.uci.org/bmx-freestyle/events/uci-urban-cycling-world-championships 

ELITE MEN

• Logan Martin - Gold Coast: 2017 World Champion; Current leader - 2019 FISE World Cup Standings; Dual gold - 2019 Summer X Games; 2nd - 2019 Urban World Games
• Brandon Loupos - Sydney: Gold - 2019 Urban Games winner; Bronze - 2018 World Championships; Gold - 2019 World Cup Round 1,  2018 National Champion
• Jake Wallwork - Melbourne: Gold -2018 World Cup Round 3; 4th - 2018 World Championships: 3rd - 2018 National Championships 
• Jason Watts - Melbourne:  2019 Vans BMX Pro-Skate Park Series: 2nd - 2018 National Championships. 

ELITE WOMEN

• Natalya Diehm - Gladstone: Winner - 2019 Vans BMX Pro-Skate Park Series; 9th/13th 2019 World Cups

Follow the Australian Cycling Team - Facebook | Instagram | Twitter

A mix of world champions and rising stars make up the Australian Team set to contest round two of the 2019-20 Tissot UCI Track World Cup in Glasgow from 8-10 November.

Reigning team pursuit world champion Sam Welsford will leave the pursuit bars back in Australia as he targets the bunch races in Scotland. Welsford will race the omnium and the Madison with three-time Madison world champion Leigh Howard at the Glasgow World Cup, his first trip back to the track since racing as part of the Australian Junior Team in 2013.

“Really keen to go back to Glasgow and give it a big crack, I have a busy schedule, and a bunch race focus,” said Welsford, who is looking forward to racing with Howard in the Madison. “Leigh has won countless World Championship and World Cup Madison events so to be able to draw on experience from him, I am really looking forward to that.

Howard will sport his rainbow jersey when he leads a youthful team pursuit quartet which includes Podium Potential Academy duo Conor Leahy and Godfrey Slattery, plus guest rider Joshua Duffy.

“I’m super excited, the knowledge you gain from these World Cup experiences can’t be compared to anything else,” offered Slattery, who with, Leahy, Duffy and Lucas Plapp teamed to win Oceania Championships team pursuit gold in October. “I’m really excited to be lining up alongside world champion Leah Howard in the team pursuit and I feel like we’ll learn quite a bit from his experience.”

Kristina Clonan and Macey Stewart will join Podium Potential Academy members Alexandra Martin-Wallace and Sophie Edwards in the team pursuit.

One year ago, Clonan and Stewart teamed with veterans Ashlee Ankudinoff and Georgia Baker to win team pursuit gold in the 2018-19 World Cup's opening round in France. At what will be Team Australia's opening World Cup for season 2019-20, Clonan is excited to offer her knowledge to two of Australia’s rising stars.

“It is amazing to think last year I was racing with Ash and Georgia at the World Cup in France and I was the young one. Now, Macey (Stewart) and I have Alexandra Martin-Wallace and Sophie Edwards,” said Clonan, now 21, who lauded the depth of the team’s program. “It is super exciting ahead of Glasgow, as we have been training really hard and super excited to see what we can do.

"But, with the inclusion of the Podium Potential Academy, we have huge prospects for 2020, 2024, 2028. We have plenty of cycles ahead, that’s for sure."

Martin-Wallace is eager to contest her second-career World Cup after racing the final round of last season in January.

“I’m really looking forward to it, it’s been a really big year building up to it, we’re coming together so well as a team, so I’m really excited,” said Martin-Wallace.

In the other women’s endurance events, 2015 omnium world champion Annette Edmondson will tackle the four-event omnium in addition to teaming with Georgia Baker in the Madison.

It will be an all Podium Potential Academy line up in the sprint competition with Matthew Richardson, Tom Cornish, Tom Clarke and Caitlin Ward set to race.

The Australian Cycling Team Podium Potential Academy (PPA) Endurance riders will race in support of the Sport Australia #findyour30 campaign.

Following the Scottish round, members of the Australian Team will contest the World Cup's second round in New Zealand from December 6-8.
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Brisbane’s Anna Meares Velodrome will host round five the 2019-2020 TISSOT UCI Track Cycling World Cup from 13-15 December. ​

Team Australia for 2019-20 Tissot UCI Track World Cup in Glasgow from 8-10 November

Sprint

• Matthew Richardson
• Tom Cornish
• Tom Clarke
• Caitlin Ward

Endurance

• Annette Edmondson
• Georgia Baker
• Kristina Clonan
• Macey Stewart
• Sophie Edwards
• Alexandra Martin-Wallace
• Sam Welsford
• Leigh Howard
• Conor Leahy
• Godfrey Slattery
• Joshua Duffy​​

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