Great Britian delivered a series of impressive performances at the 2024 UCI Urban Cycling World Championships, as four of the elite men made the top 10 and 18-year-old Sasha Pardoe made another elite final.

Men’s Freestyle Park

With five Brits in the final, it was all to play for but a podium was not to be as a range of falls kept them out of contention in a discipline where the standard just keeps going up. Defending world champion Kieran Reilly took the highest finish in fifth place.

Qualification started strong on Thursday, with all six men placing in the top 13 and making their way comfortably into Friday’s semi-finals. Olympic silver medallist Kieran Reilly was the highest placed Brit, finishing a narrow second in qualifying, with two high-quality runs scoring him an average of 87.46.

Friday’s semi-finals saw more excitement and impressive performances from Great Britain, with newcomer Jordan Clark setting the bar with a high score of 88.00 to see him qualify first in his debut world championships. Right behind him was Dylan Hessey, who after a shaky first run pulled out some show-stopping tricks to qualify second with 87.64.

Reilly held back and delivered a smooth and safe run which saw him head into the final in sixth place, with Jude Jones ninth and Shaun Gornall 10th, putting the Brits in a good place for the upcoming final with five riders through.

Heading into the finals, Gornall and Jones needed to deliver big runs to push them up the rankings. Both gave impressive performances on their first runs, scoring 78.20 and 83.40 respectively, but with both missing landings on their second run, their chance to add points was lost and Gornall finished 11th while Jones finished 9th overall.

Starting conservatively, Reilly performed well in his first run, pushing hard and showcasing his impressive engine with back-to-back tricks. With a run including a triple whip, 540 front flip, no-hander over the box and 540 flair not seen by Reilly before, as well as adding tricks in areas of the park where others didn’t, he was rewarded with 90.10 putting him in fourth place. However, a trick-filled second run ended in disaster as he fell with 20 seconds to go, taking his first score which would eventually be good enough for fifth place.

Heading into the finals with the top two scores, Hessey and Clark both struggled on their first runs, feeling the pressure and making mistakes which piled the pressure on their second runs.

Knowing they had to do something impressive to keep themselves in contention, Hessey showcased his trademark smoothness in his run, with plenty of content including a 720 double bar, and triple bar spin back flip over the spine, to bag himself a score of 84.56.

Clark left everything out there, and at his first freestyle park world championships, showcased some high-level riding including a 360 triple bar, 540 flair with smooth transitions as well as bringing tricks from his scootering background onto the bike. However, in a stacked field it wasn’t quite enough and Clark finished in sixth with 87.78 while Hessey’s second run placed him eighth overall.

Logan Martin of Australia made it his third world title with a score of 94.30.

Women’s Freestyle Park

In a stacked field, 18-year-old Sasha Pardoe delivered two smooth and considered runs, packed with quality combinations which saw her take a commendable 11th place finish.

Qualifying in 12th place on day one with a score of 77.74 across both runs, it was all to play for as Pardoe dropped in first in the women’s final.

In the finals, Pardoe delivered two big runs, confidently using speed and height to string together a range of impressive tricks including a back flip and no handers. The stylish rider delivered a range of combos, utilising every inch of the course and finished her final second run a smooth 360 over the spine, scoring 83.09 overall.

USA’s Hannah Roberts won the championships overall, taking her sixth rainbow jersey with a final score of 95.70.

Trials

It was an astounding all-British podium in the elite men’s 26” trials, as Jack Carthy bagged his sensational 12th world title, while Charlie Rolls took the silver medal and Oliver Weightman took bronze.

The trio had negotiated their way through to the semi-finals with 11-time world champion Jack Carthy in a good position to defend his title, qualifying first. Charlie Rolls qualified second while Oliver Weightman qualified fifth. 

In the finals, Carthy got through the first five zones without dropping a single point, while Rolls kept the consistency from the semi-finals and Weightman upped his performance to move from fifth to third to deliver an impressive all British 1-2-3 overall.

In the elite men’s 20” event, Adam Morewood finished 17th, Ethan Pyle was 30th and Callum Sherwood came 33rd.