Surprise ending and unexpected podium in BMX Pro Women
Sometimes, all you need is a little faith. And with the cloudy skies and persistent rain this morning in Montpellier, one had to remain faithful things would clear up eventually. Thankfully, the rain stopped, the BMX Freestyle park dried up, and the Women Pro finals took place in front of a dedicated crowd. Call it the FISE magic, but the faithful were rewarded with another incredible contest in the end!
With twelve riders qualified for these finals, split in two heats, and the same format of two runs of 60 seconds with a score based on the best of the two runs. After a thorough inspection of the park, the UCI technical commissioner gave his green light and the crowd massed on the banks of the Lez welcomed our athletes with a clamor that would warm up even the most pessimistic meteorologists!
And this heat also allows the emergence of new talents. Nice surprise of this competition, the French Laury Perez takes the third place with a great second run where she connects a double barspin on the quarter followed by a tail whip, both super clean, and more importantly laces her first flair in contest with a nice amplitude! In second place, small disappointment for the triple world champion Hannah Roberts. The American had qualified in first place with 87 points, but despite her backflip on the step up she could not beat the Chinese Huimin Zhou, another nice surprise today. Qualified in ninth position only, she started off her second run with a 360 bar on the spine, and landed a bus to condor on the box and tricks on the whole park until the final buzzer. Great commitment, a very clean style, 90.80 points and a well deserved victory!
We would like to thank the crowd for believing until the end that things would clear up, as well as these athletes for remaining motivated despite the weather, thus bringing us all a magnificent show on this fifth and last day of FISE! More events are still on the schedule to wrap up this beautiful day, started under the rain and concluded in the warmth of the crowd: thank you to all the faithful!
