UCI World Cycling Centre BMX Talent Camp | 2017

Irish riders to attend 2017 Talent Identification Camp

UCI World Cycling Centre BMX Talent Camp | 2017

Irish riders to attend 2017 Talent Identification Camp

UCI 2017 WCC Camp - Stefany Hernandez / UCI

The second UCI BMX Talent Camp, in as many years, is about to kick off at the UCI World Cycling Centre (WCC) in Aigle, Switzerland. The camp will last 10 days, starting on Monday October 2nd, and will host 28 riders, 21 of which will be travelling from nearby European countries with another 7 making the trip from further afield, including Africa and Asia.

Over the 10 days in Aigle, three UCI High Performance coaches will assess the riders in all aspects of the sport, including “technical work on the track, gym sessions, sprint sessions and classroom sessions” with the ultimate goal of selecting “the best athletes to form a team who will be based at the WCC and train over the upcoming 3 years to get ready for Tokyo 2020”.

All 28 riders who will attend the Talent Identification Camp gained a place after the UCI “sent a letter to our National Federations inviting them to select and propose talented athletes who could come and train in Aigle, Switzerland”.

2017 UCI Worlds Jr Women Podium - SWPix UCI

The previous WCC Talent camp, held in October 2016, included Latvia’s Vineta Petersone, a familiar face here in Ireland after she has visited us many times. Petersone, who impressed the coaches at that 2016 camp, was subsequently invited back to Aigle, along with 10 other Jr. Elite riders, to ‘fine tune’ her skills prior to the 2017 UCI World Championships in Rock Hill, USA … she went on to podium at the event. Petersone, who has an imminent interview with us here at Fifteen BMX, commented on her time at the WCC, “The facility is incredible and our daily routine was great. I had lots of things to improve and I had everything I needed to work on my goals.”

Prior to Petersone’s arrival in Aigle, the UCI WCC has hosted an abundance of talent leading up to the Rio Olympics including Switzerland’s Renaud Blanc, Japan’s Yoshi Nagasako and Stefany Hernandez of Venezuela who earned an Olympic bronze in South America.

Of interest from an Irish perspective, both Matthew Malone and Sam Murphy, who have been ratcheting up the speed in recent times, will be in attendance at the WCC this time out. Both riders made their first appearance in Jr. Elite at the 2017 UEC European Championships last July in Bordeaux, France. 2018 will see both turn 19 years old, elite age, so it will be interesting to see if they will make the jump to the top level in the coming years.

2017 UCI WCC Talent Camp Malone Murphy - Fifteen BMX

Unfortunately, Aaron Edwards, arguably Ireland’s fastest rider, will sit out the trip to Switzerland this time as he’s not yet recovered from the nasty foot injury he sustained in the 17-24 class at a UK National earlier this year. Hopefully Aaron makes a return to full speed by the time the 2018 season kicks off.

If you are interested in finding out more about UCI WCC Camps you can start HERE.

Thanks to UCI Press Officer, Louis Chenaille, for providing information on the camp.

Photos by UCI | Stefany Hernandez | Fifteen BMX