China News Service, Beijing, October 2 (Lv Shaowei Yunxin) From October 2 to 3, the 2026 UCI Racing BMX World Cup (Beijing Mentougou Station) was held at the BMX National Sports Base in Mentougou District, Beijing. This is the first time that this international event has been held in China, attracting a total of 199 players from 29 countries and regions around the world to compete on the same stage and stage a peak showdown of speed and skill.
It is understood that the racing BMX event was included as an official event by the International Olympic Committee in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. It is recognized as a very explosive cycling event. As one of the world's highest-level series of BMX racing events, the 2026 UCI BMX Racing World Cup has a total of 10 rounds of races, which have been held in France, the Netherlands, China, and the United States. This Mentougou station is the first points battle of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Qualification Series. There are four categories: men’s elite, women’s elite, men’s U23, and women’s U23. It adopts a knockout system. Drivers advance through multiple rounds of competition to compete for the championship.
Elite athletes gathered in this event, including the honorary winners of many top events such as the Tokyo Olympics champion in the BMX racing event, the Paris Olympic Games champion, the UCI BMX Racing World Championship champion, and the UCI BMX Racing World Cup annual championship. In terms of the domestic lineup, 16 players have been selected to compete, covering four competition categories, including Liao Wanyi, who recently won the women's BMX racing silver medal at the 2026 Aichi Nagoya Asian Games, and Lin Haochao, who won the men's bronze medal.
At the competition site, contestants swooped down from the 8-meter-high starting platform, traveled at high speed on a professional track full of waves and curved walls, and competed for ranking through continuous jumps, bends and straight-line sprints. Every action skill had a strong visual impact. After fierce competition, Clermont Rocherieux from France won the men's U23 championship, and British player Freya Challis won the women's U23 championship. The men's and women's elite championships were won by French player Arthur Pilar and Dutch player Laura Smulders respectively.
The hosting of top international events is inseparable from the hard-core support of professional venues. The venue for this event, Mentougou District BMX National Sports Base, is an international high-standard competition venue certified by UCI. The base covers a total area of nearly 30,000 square meters. At present, the racing BMX area and the pump track area have been completed and put into use. In the future, professional freestyle BMX venues and supporting buildings will be built. It is committed to creating a cycling base camp that integrates event hosting, professional training, national fitness, trendy culture and leisure consumption.
In addition to the competition venue, Mentougou District has created a diverse viewing and consumption experience scene to promote the integrated development of culture, business, tourism and sports exhibitions. The "Jingxi Story" mobile digital museum with the ancient roads in the west of Beijing as the main narrative line entered the event site for the first time. Through cultural display, immersive experience and interaction, etc., the cultural relics "walked out" from the museum and "moved" with the event. The official market of the event brings together 31 featured exhibitors, covering diverse business formats such as cycling sports equipment, local cultural and creative products, event derivatives, and international specialties. Ticket holders can use their electronic ticket purchase vouchers to obtain "event privileges" and experience exclusive benefits such as free tickets to key scenic spots such as Tanzhe Temple, Jietai Temple, and Miaofeng Mountain, as well as discounts on hotels, B&Bs, and restaurants in the area. While feeling the charm of world-class racing events, they can immerse themselves in the ecological beauty and cultural heritage of the western Beijing area.
The relevant person in charge of Mentougou District said that in the first year of the "15th Five-Year Plan", Beijing optimized the layout of event space, vigorously developed the event economy, and strived to promote the construction of a famous city for Double Olympics international events. This event is a vivid practice of Mentougou District's implementation of relevant strategic arrangements and the layout of the "cycling +" industrial system. This year, Mentougou District will launch the 2026 Beijing West International Mountain Outdoor Season based on the regional mountain resource advantages and the foundation of cycling culture, create the outdoor fashion sports IP "Hyrbix", continue to introduce high-level cycling events, continuously expand the project boundaries, and strive to build a world-class "cycling holy land" and an international mountain sports check-in place.
The person in charge said that from national cycling to top-level competition, from a single event to industrial integration, Mentougou is using sports events as a carrier to connect mountainous resources, activate urban vitality, and drive the coordinated development of multiple industries. Sports events have become a key driving force to showcase the regional image and promote green and high-quality transformation and development. In the golden autumn of October, the Mentougou District BMX National Sports Base will also host top events such as the UCI Pump Track World Championship Finals and the China Pump Track Cycling League Mentougou Station and Finals. Among them, the UCI Pump Track World Championship Finals will be in Asia for the first time. Cycling enthusiasts and citizens are sincerely invited to enter Mentougou and experience the unique charm of this blessed land in the west of Beijing.
