It was a mixed two days in Copenhagen, filled with non-stop drama and spectacle as the 12 talented British riders battled through the wet conditions to fight for their place on the podium at the 2025 UCI BMX Racing World Championships. Beth Shriever dominated the elite women’s category to take her third elite world title, while debutant Elsa Rendall-Todd took a sensational silver medal in the junior women’s event.

Women

Beth Shriever made it a hattrick of elite world titles, in true dominant Shriever fashion. Having won her round one heat and quarter-final with ease, Shriever looked steely and focused going into her semi-final. A less than ideal start saw Shriever caught at the back of the group with work to do if she wanted to progress.

Putting down her trademark speed, Shriever gradually made her way through the pack, sneaking through into third on the final straight to secure her final spot. Class Shriever came out in the final as she dominated from the off, getting out ahead early and staying there, leaving her competitors in her dust and storming across the finish line to take her third elite world title in fine fashion.

On the win, Shriever said: "it feels absolutely incredible. It was a mad, mad day of racing speaking on behalf of all the athletes here today, it was crazy, and it was a bit up and down for me. I scraped through the semi and said, ‘this is all or nothing now’, so I’m gassed to take home the win.”

In the under-23 event, Sienna Harvey raced well, sneaking through her quarter-final in fourth place. In the semi, on the first corner she sat in fifth place and as the leaders pushed hard to extend the gap, it was just too far out of reach for the developing rider and she finished in fifth place, narrowly missing out on a place in the final.

Elsewhere, two-time silver medallist Emily Hutt started strong with a win in her first heat. However, after an unfortunate crash in training on day two, was sadly forced to retire from the championships. Betsy Bax started strong but just got pipped at the post int he quarter-final, ending her event.

It was success for Elsa Rendall-Todd in the junior women’s category as she raced well and capitalised on opportunity to take a silver medal at her first world championships.

Both Rendall-Todd and teammate Freia Challis won their first-round heats and flew through the quarters with just the semis between them and the finals. Challis was fastest down the start ramp and quickly distanced herself from the other riders, which she managed to hold to take another comfortable win. Rendall-Todd fought through her competitors to get into second place behind Lily Greenough (New Zealand) and take her final spot.

The two Brits headed into the final with confidence, before disaster struck and Challis got caught up in a four-way crash at the bottom of the start ramp, ending her chances at the title. Rendall-Todd capitalised on this opportunity and pushed forward through third into second place on the final corner. Unable to catch the dominant Greenough, Rendall-Todd crossed the line in second place to leave her debut world championships a silver medal winner.

Debutant Theia Gaynor delivered some positive rides in her first time at this level, making it through the quarterfinals in third place. Gaynor worked hard in the semi-finals but was just pushed out of contention in a stacked field and was knocked out in fifth place.

Men

James Criddle took the best placed finish out of the men, coming fifth overall in the junior men’s category.

Criddle and teammate Ben Cornish made their way confidently through the opening rounds, both crossing the line second in the quarter finals to make it through to the semis. Cornish started strong in second place, with Criddle further back before a collision with the Belgian rider saw Cornish crash off the track, putting a sudden end to his championships. This opened the field and saw Criddle push through into third place to secure his spot in the final on the first time of asking.

In the final, Criddle started well in the middle of the pack, before dropping back on the first corner. The young rider fought hard to make his way back into contention but was unable to catch the leaders and came away from his first world championships with a commendable fifth place finish.

In the elite men’s event, Kye Whyte looked to be back on form winning his first two races with ease. In the quarterfinals he found himself chasing from the start before finding a way around Kamran Larsen (USA). However, that move left the for open for Frenchman Theo Thouin who snook ahead putting Whyte in fifth and out of the competition.

In the under-23 men’s event, Jos Marnham showed some promising racing as he made his way to the 1/8 finals after winning his LCQ, where he took second place. However, in the quarter-final the newcomer came unstuck and crossed the line in sixth, to end his competition.

Matt Gilston got through the heats well with a third-place finish, however a slow start in the 1/8 finals lost him good time and a sixth-place finish saw him knocked out of the championships.

Photos: Credit SWPix.