2024 UCI BMX Racing World Cup season: Preview, schedule and how to watch 

The 2024 BMX Racing World Cup season is set to begin in Rotorua, New Zealand on 10 February. 

This year’s season includes only six rounds of action, with the UCI announcing that the traditional stop in Papendal, Netherlands will not take place as it usually does in June and instead return for 2025.

Instead, this year’s overall champions will likely be crowned after the final races of the season in Tulsa, Oklahoma in the USA at the end of April.

But that won’t be the end of the BMX racing action in 2024. The World Championships follow in Rock Hill, USA in May followed by the highlight of the year - the Olympic Games in Paris - where the BMX racing competition takes place on 1 and 2 August.

Speaking of the Olympics, the World Cup season will be vital when it comes to qualification, with results counting towards the Olympic ranking that will help define the NOCs that obtain quotas for the Games.

It gives an added layer of importance to each race of the season, with the best 14 results within the qualification period of 1 August 2022 to 2 June 2024 counting towards the ranking. 

Read on to find out everything you need to know about the 2024 BMX racing season.

Athletes to watch during the 2024 BMX Racing World Cup season

Olympic hosts France have much to look forward to heading into the year of their home Games, particularly in the men’s competition where two of their riders were dominant in 2023. 

Romain Mahieu was crowned overall champion after a season in which he claimed five race wins and two second-place finishes from a  possible 10. His compatriot Joris Daudet ended the season in second having won three of the remaining five races. 

Both Mahieu and Daudet will be hoping they can maintain their form in a season that ends at Paris 2024. However, they won’t be the only riders pushing for victory this year. 

Olympic champion Niek Kimmann may not have enjoyed the most consistent 2023 - finishing fifth after picking up just one silver during the season, but he will be one to keep a close eye on as he aims to defend his Olympic title. 

Colombia’s Diego Arboleda finished third in the standings and will be a real threat if he can maintain the type of form that saw him land on the podium three times last year. Also watch out for a resurgent Cameron Wood of the USA who claimed a win and second place in the final three races of 2023 having previously suffered with physical issues. 

France’s 2018 World Champion Sylvain Andre is likely to be in the mix, as well as national teammate Arthur Pilard. 

The top spot of the women’s podium was shared by just two women in 2023: Olympic champion Beth Shriever and Australia’s Saya Sakakibara. However, after an incredible run of five victories in the final seven races of the season, it was the 24-year-old Aussie who was named overall champion. 

Sakakibara has been through a lot in her career, including crashing out of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. Now she enters a new Olympic year as the favourite - not only for the World Cup title but also Olympic gold itself. 

If Sakakibara is to stand on top of the podium in France, she will need to overcome the challenge of Tokyo gold medallist Shriever who just missed out on last year’s title having registered four race victories. 

As usual, the 2024 women’s field is likely to be highly competitive with Switzerland’s Zoe Claessens and Dutch sisters Laura and Merel Smulders likely to be fighting for victories throughout the year. 

Also keep a close eye on double Olympic champion Mariana Pajon who had surgery after the 2023 Pan American Games but has stated her aim to attempt to qualify for the Olympics. Will the World Cup season lead to one last dance for the 32-year-old at Paris 2024?

2024 BMX Racing World Cup schedule

10 February 2024

BMX Racing World Cup - Round 1

Rotorua, New Zealand 

11 February 2023

BMX Racing World Cup - Round 2

Rotorua, New Zealand 

24 February 2024

BMX Racing World Cup - Round 3 

Brisbane, Australia 

25 February 2024

BMX Racing World Cup - Round 4

Brisbane, Australia 

27 April 2024

BMX Racing World Cup - Round 5

Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA

28 April 2024 

BMX Racing World Cup - Round 6

Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA

12-18 May 2024

BMX Racing World Championships 

Rock Hill, USA

How to watch the 2024 BMX Racing World Cup season

While streaming details have not yet been released, follow the link to the UCI BMX Racing website for more information as and when it becomes available.