Events

Red Bull Pump Track World Champs hit Durban and Lesotho

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· By Press Office · 0 comments

Over the past week, the Red Bull Pump Track World Championship has seen qualifiers take place in Durban, Lesotho and Ensenada, with a further 20 riders securing their place at the world final later this year.

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Durban

Durban, South Africa is the home of the latest #pumpforpeace project from Velosolutions. An initiative that aims to build pump tracks in underprivileged communities around the world. The Velosolutions track is situated just outside the KwaDebeka township, bringing a unique atmosphere as the locals from the Go Durban Cycling Academy took on South Africa’s best riders.

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The new track was designed specifically for head to head racing which saw the likes of South Africa’s own Andrew Neethling come out to put in his bid for the coveted ticket to the world final. The grandstands were packed with a mixture of locals and fans from across the country as both men’s and women’s final went down to the wire in an incredible setting.

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Georgina Grassie took on Tiffany Keep in the women’s final and Grassie came away with the win. The men’s final would come down to MTB World Cup star Andrew Neethling and BMXer Kane Herbert. With seconds remaining in the final, Neethling pushed too hard and went off track handing the win to Kane Herbert.

Lesotho

Returning to Lesotho one year on from the construction of the first Velosolutions #pumpforpeace track it was incredible to see how the locals had improved and embraced the opportunity that riding had brought to their community. But they would have their work cut out as they were joined by riders from South Africa and even Australia’s XCO Junior World Champion, Cameron Wright.

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Hundreds of kids made it to the track to watch the racing go down alongside the local cows, donkeys and horses.

Check out Claudio Caluori’s “GoPro Horse Preview” here:

Two local riders from Lesotho made it to the quarterfinals but the race would come down to South Africa’s Oli Jones and Australia’s Cameron Wright, but Wright would take the win on the day.

As the racing finished the locals took back their track and rode until the sun had set. The level of talent that has arisen from the #pumpforpeace project is sure to strengthen over the next year and a future champion could be born.

Chile

As the winners were announced in Africa, South America was gearing up for race day in Ensenada, Chile. With over 75 racers from across Chile, Argentina, Brazil and Colombia, timed seeding runs would be more important than ever. With over 500 spectators packed into the Kotaix bike park, the Osorno Volcano made for a spectacular back drop for an incredible day of racing.

Santiago’s Renata Urrutia is no stranger to challenging for a World Championship title. Ranked 12th in the UCI BMX World Cup and current Chilean National champ she was the fasted in timed runs and took the overall win in the women’s field.

In the men’s field the dark horse of Bruno Lavagnino, a Moto-X rider who only picks up his MTB for fun would challenge a field of local BMX stars to take the win and secure an unexpected ticket to the world final.

The Red Bull Pump Track World Championship will cross back over to the northern hemisphere as the first of the European stop takes place in Neunkirchen, Austria on the 5th of May. With an already stacked line up of riders, we can expect to see an incredible race unfold over the coming weekend.

For the latest news, results and your chance to register to race visit https://redbullpumptrackworldchampionship.com

For more information on #pumpforpeace head to: https://pumpforpeace.com

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