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Preview: Montpellier the next stop for Aussie assault on BMX Freestyle World Cup
May 9, 2023
Australia has assembled one of its strongest possible teams for the next round of the 2023 UCI BMX Freestyle World Cup, taking place in Montpellier, France from 18-21 May.
AusCycling confirmed its final roster for the event following performance trials last month, highlighted by the inclusion of Tokyo Olympian Natalya Diehm who makes her return to the World Cup stage following a 15-month layoff with an ACL injury.
Diehm first resumed competitive riding in March at the Oceania Championships where she took silver, before taking silver again at the National Championships the following week. The 25-year-old will compete at Montpellier alongside newly minted Oceania and National champion Sarah Nicki.
Speaking to AusCycling, Diehm revealed how the long layoff with injury has changed her attitude towards competing.
“I’ve used it to drive me. It's like, ‘look where I've come back from and look how strong I am now and the opportunities,’ and I can really maximize that in my mindset to training and competing. It’s like, ‘I'm ready to go. I'm going to come back and I'm going to knock it out of the park’,” Diehm said.
“The injuries suck, the time off sucked, but mentally it was probably a really good thing for me.”
Diehm now focuses on maintaining a positive outlook and indicated that despite only returning to riding six weeks ago, she feels ready to compete at the top level, with the tight turnaround from Oceanias, Nationals, and performance trials restoring her confidence and competition mindset.
“I look back at that now and go, ‘man, just six weeks ago, this is all I was able to do. Now look at me,’ which gives me a lot more confidence. So, it has helped a lot coming into Montpellier.”
Making the World Cup final is the Queenslander’s immediate goal, with the Paris Olympics also now in the conversation.
“We had a meeting and my coach Wade Bootes started off with, ‘August 2024 – Natalya Diehm retires as an Olympic medallist,’ right? So right then and there, it was like, ‘oh my God, you know, that's not far away.’ And that is my plan to do that.
“So, what I say to myself every day and especially before I go out to ride is, ‘These last few years are going to be the best years of my riding career’. And that's what I say to myself, and I truly believe that; that these last few years are going to be the best years of my riding career.”
The World Cup team also includes Australia’s top ranked men: world #1 Logan Martin, Jaie Toohey (19th), Josh Matthews (22nd), and Alec Danelutti (29th).
Having taken second at the Monster Energy BMX Triple Challenge last month, Toohey carries hot form into the World Cup, and while admitting the format differs to a World Cup, the Gold Coast native nonetheless feels the BMX Triple Challenge has him primed for the UCI event.
“BMX dirt and BMX park are the total opposite. We do a lot of the same tricks, but the format and how the event runs is nothing alike. At the end of the day however, it is still a competition and you’re competing for that top spot, which means you at are still under a lot of pressure to perform, which is all the same as a World Cup,” Toohey said.
“Coming into Montpelier I’m more prepared than I was [for the last UCI World Cup round] in Saudi Arabia. I have worked hard on a lot of things, not only on the bike but also off the bike, so my goal would be to make the final.”
Australian team in Montpellier:
Men
- Logan Martin
- Jaie Toohey
- Josh Matthews
- Alec Danelutti
Women
- Natalya Diehm
- Sarah Nicki
The Finals of the BMX Freestyle France World Cup will be broadcast on the FISE YouTube channel:
More info:
Follow @AusCyclingTeam
Follow @AusCycling
Main photo: @collectif_theagency / @FISE
- Written by
- AusCycling
- Disciplines
- BMX Freestyle
- Athletes
- Logan Martin, Natalya Diehm