On July 18th the Canadian challenge BMX team left Vancouver, BC for Auckland, NZ for the 2013 UCI BMX World Championships. The team included BC Athletes; Ryder McIntosh (8 Boys), Alex Tougas (15 boys), Drew Mechielsen (16 girls & U16 female Cruiser) and Jeannie Mansell (30+ Female cruiser). They were joined by Alberta athletes Cayleigh Van Staalduinen (14 girls) and Diana Tuchscherer (16 girls). I had the opportunity to lead the group as the challenge class team manager.
The group started the Worlds with the practice sessions on Monday and Tuesday. The team was looking really good.
Wednesday (July 24th)
This was a great day to be a coach and help athletes achieve success. We had four athletes racing; all had very good chances of making the podium and all four walked away with World plates.
The day began in the dark under staging tent and grew with Cayleigh Van Staalduinen (14 girls) working her way through the motos and qualifiers into the main. In the main she was on the outside and crashed in the first turn to place 8th.
Building from the morning Drew Mechielsen and Diana Tuchscherer (16 girls) and Alex Tougas continued the success, cruising through the motos. Drew and Daina lined up beside each other in the final in the middle. As they raced down the hill Drew was squeezed out and crashed on the first jump to place 8th, Daina battled for a 5th place finish.
Alex was riding great all day until in his worst lap of the day in his semi, causing him to have the 6th pick in the final. As the gate dropped in the final Alex got his best start of the day and was leading going into triple. In the first turn a big crash took out most of the field, with Alex being high in the turn he was able to miss the crash and on to his first World title.
Alex Tougas on how he felt after winning his first World title – “At First I was in shock, but then once it set in it was an amazing feeling. Just felt like all the time and effort I put into training up to this race paid off! Being able to say I am the world champion is something that has been in my craziest dreams and now it’s a reality, nothing beats it!”
“Alex has been part of our development programs for the past seven years, it was a great validation that our programs are helping athletes. It has been wonderful to work with Alex and watch him grow into a high performance athlete”. – Adam Muys
Thursday (July 25th)
Along with the good some times comes the Heartbreak, on Thursday both Ryder McIntosh (8 boys) and Drew Mechielsen (cruiser), looked great all day until while in a top two position in the semi final they crashed out. Both athletes should be proud of their performances.
Sometimes it’s seeing and helping an athlete meet their goals that can bring joy to help athletes. Jeanie Mansell’s goal was to pedal three times down the hill.
BC Athletes:
Alex Tougas W1 – 15 boys
Drew Mechielsen W8 – 16 girls
Albert Athletes:
Cayleigh Van Staalduinen W8 – 14 girls
Diana Tuchscherer W5 – 16 girls
On Saturday and Sunday the Championship classes had time trails and racing.
Hayden Mechielsen (BC) raced in his first Junior World Championship. This event was a great learning experience for him as he realized he has the speed and abilities of the top junior riders in the World, but he needs to match their intensity on the track. Hayden rode really well but failed to qualify out of the motos.
In the Elite race BC’s Tory Nyhaug lined up with the best in the World. Tory looked really good through the qualifying rounds to earn a spot in his first Elite final at the World Championships. In the final Tory slipped of the start and battled back to a 5th place finish.
It was great to be a member of the team and help the athletes preform at the event.
Adam Muys