Major cycling competitions
BMX racing
The season-long competition is known as the UCI BMX Supercross World Cup and the UCI BMX World Championships serves as the one-day world championships for BMX racing.
BMX races are held on circuits of around 350 metres, including jumps, banked corners and other obstacles. Eight riders compete in each heat (qualifying rounds, quarter finals, semi-finals, finals) with the top four qualifying for the next round.
The UCI BMX Supercross World Cup is split into Elite Men and Women rankings for each world region and an overall ranking, the current rankings for the 2008/2009 season are:
The UCI BMX World Championships are held annually and the winner of each event is crowned the BMX Cycling World Champion. This three-day cycling festival should not be confused with the UCI BMX Supercross World Cup, which is the international BMX racing series held at numerous locations throughout the year. The 2008 UCI BMX World Championships took place in Taiyuan in China and crowned world champions in the cycling discipline of BMX. Great Britain's Shanaze Reade won her second consecutive world championships in the elite women's category, whilst Latvian Māris Štrombergs won the elite men's category. France dominated overall coming top of the medals table with 10 medals, including 4 golds.
