2001 Vans Triple BMX Crown Series

2001 Vans Triple BMX Crown Series

Stop number two of the 2001 Vans Triple Crown of BMX made its way to the Kentucky Fair & Exposition Center in Louisville, KY on July 27-29. Taking place in conjunction with NBL World Championships, the Vans Triple Crown of BMX continued with its new format of Vert, Street and Dirt competitions.

The top riders competed in three new formats, moving away from the downhill format of last year. The street discipline tested the riders as they tackled obstacles on a street course similar to that in skate. The second discipline, the vert ramp, also resembled skate, with the riders in BMX going higher and faster than their board-riding counterparts. The third and final discipline is anywhere from one to a series of four jumps and gaps.

Dave Mirra took home first place in the Vert and Street competitions. Ryan Nyquist used a 360 back flip to best the Dirt field at the Right Guard Xtreme Sport BMX World Championships. In addition, BMX racer Dale Holmes captured first place in the Racing World Championships, an American Bicycle Association (ABA) sanctioned event. The overall event prize purse was $80,000.

Competition opened on Friday, July 27 with Nyquist (Greenville, NC) landing a clean 360 back flip in his last run to edge out Cory Nastazio (West Palm, FL) and Stephen Murray (Newcastle, England). Nyquist bested a field of 30 riders who competed on the Fuzzy Hall-designed course to claim his $7,500 check for the win.

Competitors hit the half pipe on Saturday, July 28 for the Vert competition. Mirra (Greenville, NC), like Nyquist, repeated his victory at the first Vans Triple Crown stop in Salt Lake City last month. Under constant threat of rain that never materialized, the amped Kentucky crowd caught Kevin Robinson (East Providence, RI) and Dennis McCoy (Kansas City, MO) take second and third from a very strong field.

The skies opened up on Sunday, as a huge crowd saw Mirra take home his second trophy of the weekend when he bested second and third place finishers, Alistair Whitton (Chester, England) and Nyquist, to win the Street competition. Mirras' final run, including a double back flip, sealed the victory.

After the weekend's action, Mirra leads the Vert and Street disciplines for the overall Vans Triple Crown points standings. He is leading McCoy and Rick Thorne in the Vert, and Nyquist and Whitton in the Street. Nyquist stands in front of Nastazio and Murray in the overall Dirt standings. The final stop of the Vans Triple Crown of BMX in Oceanside, CA will see $40,000 in bonus prize money distributed to the top riders in each discipline. The series will also include a $10,000 "Off The Wall" award, which will be given to the overall best routine by a rider in any of the three categories.

Fans can catch all the action as the event is scheduled to broadcast on NBC Sports on September 8 at 3:00 p.m. EDT/Noon PDT as part of NBC Sports ongoing coverage of the Vans Triple Crown Series. Fox Sports Net will provide the cable complement.

For more information on the Vans Triple Crown of BMX, check out their website at: www.vans.com