Story By Mike Carruth, BMXNEWS.COM | Photo: Angel Martine – UCI BMX / Getty Images

It’s been 168 days since Sam Willoughby won the 2009 UCI BMX Supercross finals in Frejus, France—and with it, the overall series title. Since then, Sam has been keeping himself busy with training, moving to San Diego, training, diligently working his way through the first chunk of the ABA Pro series…and did we mention TRAINING? Well, today, Sam proved that his efforts to keep the top spot in the SX universe in 2010 are as serious as a chili cook-off in Texas.

With a record 174 competitors (136 men and 38 women), the 2010 season opener in Madrid was the best attended UCI BMX Supercross to date. And, we believe that goes for spectators too; it was said that some 8,000 people purchased a ticket to see the three-hour show, which included a little guys race (starting on the first jump), a dirt jumping competition, and a trials demonstration as filler entertainment for the big show of world-class BMX racing.

In the Mens class, Time trials showed the top five riders a mere .166 off the pace set by time trials winner Joris Daudet of France (27.412 seconds). Steven Cisar and Cristian Becerine tied for the fastest speed on the track during time trials, at 59.999 KM/H (seems they may have maxed out the system, so one may have gone faster). For you non-metric types, that is at least 37.281 MPH. Whoa, Nelly, that is haulin the mail! A total of 64 riders made it in to eight stacked racks from the time trials. The resulting races (which is where the crowd arrives) are run like a three moto transfer race (though in SX parlance, it is three “runs” of a “1/8 final”). Standouts in the motos were Sam Willoughby, Liam Phillips from the UK, Rob van den Wildenberg of the Netherlands and Connor Fields of the USA. These four were the guys who came away with perfect scores of three points out of the motos, with Fields having the fastest time of the four, with a 26.832 in his third run (which ended up being faster than both the time trial winner, and the ultimate main event winner).

The USA contingent of Elite men had some setbacks in the Medical Tent, with Denzel Stein, Donny Robinson and Travis Ohrazda all paying a visit to the Red canopy. Travis seems to have gotten the worst of it, with a compound fracture of his right leg in practice. Word was that Denzel and Donny had minor injuries. but BMXNEWS has not been able to confirm their condition.

Newly-Crowned USA Elite Men’s Champion, Nic Long missed moving on by one point, with an unfortunate second lap that let Renaud Blanc of Switzerland squeak by in the points (even though Nic beat him third round).

Connor Fields’ performance all day long was nothing short of incredible, with strong, edgy riding, and incomparable bike skills. It was these skills that carried him to the Semis, as a split-second difficulty on the “box jump” cost him the lead in the race, but allowed him to hang on by a slim margin to grab the final qualifying spot. Josh Meyers was also in qualifying position down the second straight, but had some difficulty on the backside of the box jump, and slipped out of contention. So, too, was David Herman’s luck bad in the quarters, as he had some mojo-interruptus coming down the first straight, and was not a factor for contention of the top four spots. it was surprising to see Liam Phillips not advancing to the semis, as his riding was so strong in the motos. The quarters also claimed Corben Sharrah’s dreams of a first SX podium. So, from the semis on, it would be Connor Fields as the sole US representative for the men (though there were plenty of “Adoptive sons” advancing, such as Willoughby, Strombergs, and Becerine, the points still go to their country of citizenship). If the Con-Man did not make the main, it would be an American upset. Fortunately, he did.

The semis were as stacked as could be with the aforementioned out of the running. The first semi came off clean, with Strombergs handily taking the win, followed by Ivo van der Putten of the Netherlands, Fields and Quentin Caleyron of France. The second semi was kind of nuts, in that four of eight riders went down in the first straight/first turn. After exiting the first turn, it was a boatride for Raymon van der Biezen, Sam Willoughby, Ramiro Marino and Luke Madill (in order). Tough break for Cristian Becerine, who was riding very well all day.

Looking, for a moment, at the ladies class, pretty much every world-stage Elite Woman was in attendance, with Frejus winner, Laëtitia le Corguillé, Shanaze Reade, Mariana Pajon (now rockin’ her Free Agent/Red Bull Colors), Alise Post, Arielle Martin, ABA Number one Pro/USA Elite Women’s Champion, Dominique Daniels, and a host of other heavyweights in the hizzouse. Reigning Elite Women World Champion, Sarah Walker of New Zealand was on the start list, but was listed as a DNS (Did Not Start). Danielle Brisson of Canada was the other DNS among the ladies, due to a broken ankle in practice.

Amélie Despeaux of France won the Time Trial with a 31.260 (the fifth place rider being separated by almost a full second, at +0.994). Shanaze Reade and Arielle Martin tied for the fastest Women, at a speed of 55.384 KM/H in their first time trial run.

Things were a little tense from the get-go, when, in the third race of the day, Alise Post unclipped in the second straight, then Manon Valentino of France, came under her and took both of them out in the second turn. In that same moto, Brooke Crain, who would ultimately make her second SX main event a couple hours later (first was in Chula Vista, where she got fifth), DNF’d the race, but got consistent thirds thereafter to edge out fellow American, Amanda Carr, by one point.

In the first rack of the second round, Arielle Martin was ahead by a half a bike length going into the first turn…which was just enough to be ahead of the carnage that was to follow a split-second later, taking four or five riders down to the floor. In the second rack, Rachel Bracken of Australia was hanging with first-round winner, Amanda Geving when she unclipped in the second straight, and ended up seventh for the round. Alise mounted an impressive second straight charge to take the lead from Caroline Buchanan in the third rack.

In the third round of the ladies, Arielle Martin handily dispensed with the field to bring home a wire-to-wire win. Amanda Geving unclipped over the peak of the triple going into turn one, but still ended up with a fifth place, and a ticket to the next round. Caroline Buchanan took the win in the third rack, and Shanaze Reade in the fourth rack.

The Elite Women Semi saw Arielle Martin eliminated after a tangle in the first straight, as well for Magalie Pottier. Amanda Geving got clear of the clashes and cruised home for the semi win. Alise Post ended up with the fuzzy lillipop of fifth place in the second semi rack, but Team USA did get a second rider in the main, in the person of Brooke Crain.

Main Events
After a healthy break to let the riders recover from the semis, it was time for the main events. During the break, a Dirt Jumping contest was staged for the crowd, featuring some local Spanish talent.

The Elite Women Main Event was (in the order of gate selection): Laëtitia le Corguillé (France), Caroline Buchanan (Australia), Amanda Geving (USA), Shanaze Reade (UK), Brooke Crain (USA), Gabriela Diaz (Argentina), Nicole Callisto (Australia) and Maartje Hereijgers of the Netherlands.

When the gate dropped, it was Shanaze with a nice holeshot, and lead into the first turn. Within the turn, however, she had a moment of trouble, and Laëtitia was there to capitalize on any misfortune with a swoop into the lead. Reade held on for the second, and Caroline Buchanan rounded out the podium. Brooke Crain brought an impressive fourth place finish home. See below for complete results.

The final round of the day was a classic “best for last” situation. The Elite Men main event was (in the order of gate selection): Raymon van der Biezen (Netherlands), Maris Strombergs (Latvia), Ivo van der Putten (Netherlands), Sam Willoughby (Australia), Connor Fields (USA), Quentin Caleyron (France), Ramiro Marino (Argentina) and Luke Madill (Australia).

When the gate dropped, and gravity took over (coupled with a healthy dose of explosive muscle strength, of course), it was not instantly clear who would emerge as the leader. By the first jump, it was starting to look like Willoughby or Strombergs, and by the face of the triple going into turn one, it was definitely Willoughby, with Strombergs a strong and charging second. Where was Fields? Well, at this point, he was in fifth, and looked like he’d be watching the podium from the other side of the fence. Suddenly, he seemed to see some daylight, as momentum carried the front-runners high on turn one. Connor dove for the inside, swooping teammate Strombergs, and the others behind him, and putting himself in good proximity to Sam. For Sam, it was nothing but daylight all the way home, save for a slight challenge by Connor in the last turn (which, had Connor gone for it, would probably have taken them both down). Sam logs his first SX win of 2010, Connor edges ever-closer to the top of the podium (he took third in Chula Vista, and had to miss Frejus due to school). The “Orange Crush” Dutch Redline Team showed solid, with Ivo van ver Putten on the right step.

The next stop on the 2010 UCI BMX Supercross tour is in Copenhagen, Denmark on May 7-8. BMXNEWS will have a full report from the race, and will be on-scene for stop three in Chula Vista, September 17-18.

Results

Elite Men
Sam Willoughby
Connor Fields
Ivo van der Putten
Maris Strombergs
Raymon van der Biezen
Ramiro Marino
Luke Madill
Quentin Caleyron

Elite Women
Laëtitia le Corguillé
Shanaze Reade
Caroline Buchanan
Brooke Crain
Nicole Callisto
Maartje Hereijgers
Amanda Geving
Gabriela Diaz