2023 UCI BMX Racing World Cup Santiago del Estero: Preview, schedule and how to watch
Saya Sakakibara and Joris Daudet top the World Cup standings as the best BMX racers on the planet head to Argentina for the final four rounds of the 2023 World Cup
BMX racing’s top riders are fighting to take the 2023 UCI BMX Racing World Cup title and add points to their Olympic ranking in hopes of securing quotas to the Olympic Games Paris 2024.
With six rounds down and four to go, Joris Daudet leads the men's World Cup rankings and Saya Sakakibara leads the women's, but the points are tight and the title could still be anyone's game.
Points earned by athletes contribute to the Olympic ranking of their NOC and on 2 June 2024 the rankings decide how many athletes each nation will send to Paris 2024.
Currently, the Netherlands top the country leaderboard for women, followed by Switzerland and the United States. For the men, France leads, followed by Colombia and then Switzerland.
After touring through Türkiye, the Netherlands and France, the final four rounds will all be held in Santiago del Estero in Argentina from 7-14 October.
Bethany Shriever of Team Great Britain leads during the Women's BMX semifinal heat 2, run 3 on day seven of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
**Athletes to watch at the BMC Racing World Cup in Santiago del Estero **
Reigning world and Olympic champion Beth Shriever of Team GB has taken the 2023 circuit by storm winning three of the previous five rounds. She sits in second place on the World Cup leaderboard, just behind Australia’s Saya Sakakibara, who took wins in round three and six, as well as coming second in round four.
Team USA’s most decorated female BMX racer and Rio 2016 silver medalist Alise Willoughby has been on the 2023 Cup’s podium three times so far and is in third place with 1566 points.
Tokyo 2020 Olympian Zoe Claessens sits in fourth, with reigning World Cup champion Laura Smoulders just behind in fifth.
For the men's competition, France’s Roman Mahieu and Joris Daudet have taken five of five gold medals. The two have been ping-ponging the top spot between themselves and going into round seven, Daudet is in the lead with three firsts while Mahieu sits just behind.
Reigning World Cup champion Andre Sylvain is third after starting the World Cup with a 56th-place after a DNF. He is quickly climbing back up the ranks and each race has gotten better for him, finishing in sixth, fourth, second and again second in the last four rounds.
A general view of the Men's BMX quarterfinal heat 3 run 2 on day six of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan.
Schedule
All times in local to Santiago del Estero (GMT-3)
7 October - Round 7
- 15:05: Rider Introductions
- 15:45: quarter-finals
- 16:25: semi-finals
- 17:00: finals
- 17:45 podium
8 October - Round 8
- 15:05: Rider Introductions
- 15:45: quarter-finals
- 16:25: semi-finals
- 17:00: finals
- 17:45 podium
13 October - Round 9
- 16:00 warm-up
- 16:30: quarter-finals
- 17:10: semi-finals
- 17:40: finals
- 18:10: podium
14 October - Round 10
- 16:00 warm-up
- 16:30: quarter-finals
- 17:10: semi-finals
- 17:40: finals
- 18:10: podium
Women's BMX semifinal heat 1, run 2 on day seven of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Ariake Urban Sports Park on July 30, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan.
How to watch the final four rounds of the 2023 BMX Racing World Cup
The 2023 BMX Racing World Cup season will continue to stream worldwide on the UCI YouTube channel. Competition updates, highlights and more are available on the UCI BMX Racing Instagram and other social media platforms.
The International Cycling Federation events can also be streamed through their international broadcast partners, depending on where in the world you are:
- Discovery (Discovery+, GCN+ worldwide, Eurosport Pan-European)
- Outdoorsportchannel (worldwide)
- L’Equipe (France)
- NOS (Netherlands)
- SBS (Australia)
- BEIN (Pan Asia Pacific, Australia)
- SPOTTV2 (Pan Asia)
- Edge TV (worldwide)