Freia Challis won the women’s under-23 final and Bethany Shriever finished second in the elite women’s race at round five of the 2026 UCI BMX Racing World Cup in Mentougou, Beijing.
Challis claimed the under-23 victory in 36.549 seconds, while Shriever took the elite runner-up spot behind Laura Smulders of the Netherlands. The two results gave Great Britain leading finishes across the programme’s women’s categories at the Mentougou BMX National Sports Base.
The round was held on 2 October after the UCI brought rounds five and six forward by one day because strong winds had been forecast for 4 October. Mentougou is hosting the first UCI BMX Racing World Cup event to be staged in China.
Challis converts strong opening heat into under-23 win
Challis won from lane five in the women’s under-23 final, recording 36.549 seconds in the official UCI timing. Her result followed an opening-heat win in 36.064 seconds.
Before the Mentougou meeting, the UCI had listed Challis among the leading riders in the under-23 women’s standings, noting that she had already won a round. The result added another World Cup final victory to her campaign.
Maya Savina finished second in the final in 37.677 seconds and Lily Greenough was third in 38.054. The remaining finalists were Aleksandra Simashkina, Meredith van der Haar, Sofia Sitnikova-Rykhlitskaya, Isabella Schramm and Derin Merten, who did not finish.
Behind the podium, Aleksandra Simashkina placed fourth in 38.070 seconds, Meredith van der Haar fifth in 39.481, Sofia Sitnikova-Rykhlitskaya sixth in 1:07.946 and Isabella Schramm seventh in 1:32.940.
Shriever reaches elite podium behind Smulders
Shriever completed the elite women’s final in 35.072 seconds to take second place. Smulders won in 34.583, with Australia’s Sienna Pal third in 36.052 and Switzerland’s Zoé Claessens fourth in 36.088.
The Australian Cycling Team described Shriever as Great Britain’s world champion in its report on the elite final. Its account said Pal moved ahead of Claessens at the second corner, with 0.036 seconds separating the pair at the finish.
Shriever’s route to the final included victory in her opening heat, in 34.913 seconds, and another win in the quarter-final, where she recorded 35.287. She then placed second in her semi-final with 34.961 before lining up in lane six for the final.
Payton Ridenour was fifth in 36.874 seconds, followed by Nadine Aeberhard in 37.257, Michelle Wissing in 37.465 and Merel Smulders in 39.636.
The result left Shriever on the podium at the first UCI BMX Racing World Cup meeting held in China.
Results in the men’s finals
France’s Arthur Pilard won the men’s elite final in 31.447 seconds, ahead of Evan Oliveira in 31.591. Australia’s Joshua Jolly took third in 31.714 on his elite World Cup debut. The 20-year-old under-23 world champion had won his opening moto and started the final in sixth before moving through the field.
Clément Rocherieux won the men’s under-23 final in 31.609. Matteo Faure made it a French one-two with 32.079, and Switzerland’s Alexandre Emmel was third in 32.251. Elite world champion Jesse Asmus placed fourth in his first World Cup race in the rainbow jersey.
Standings and the Chinese rounds
Before racing in Mentougou, the UCI listed Shriever on 1,172 points, one point behind third-placed Smulders. Canadian Molly Simpson led the women’s elite series on 1,730 points after reaching the podium in each of the opening four rounds.
The new Mentougou base also contains two pump tracks and is due to host the 2026 UCI Pump Track World Championships later in October. The World Cup continues at the same BMX track before moving to Chongli.
Round six is scheduled at the same Mentougou venue on 3 October. The World Cup is then due to move to Chongli for rounds seven and eight on 10 and 11 October, giving riders another pair of rounds in China following the Beijing meeting.