A Breakdown of the 2022 World Championship Track

Filed under General on June 28, 2022 | Comment(s)

The hype is real for the upcoming 2022 BMX Racing World Championships, and the DIG Tracks crew, partnered with Pro Tracks, have released new images showing the almost completed build. Let's look at the drone shots and see what you should expect from the track in Nantes, France.

Right off the bat, let's talk layout.

Similar to the 2021 USA BMX Grand Nationals build, the track is a U in a U formation with an outside split on both the first and second straights. With a left-handed first turn, a big second turn, and a tight right-handed third turn, US riders have raced this layout several times over the years.

 Straight-by-straight

First Straight - Amateur: Off a 5-meter hill, step up to a roller, Camelback (Step-up Step-down), Step-triple step-down.

First Straight - Elite: Off an 8-meter hill, Filled in step up, Camelback (Step-up Step-down), Step-triple step-down.

Second Straight - Amateur & Elite Women: Roller out of the turn, Double to step-down, Triple to step-down, Long step-table.

Second Straight - Elite Men: Roller out of the turn, Step-up (pro jump), double (pro jump), Long step-Table.

Third Straight - Rhythm: Step-up to a single roller, Double, and a Dragon's back (step-up double step-down).

Fourth Straight: Small double, four rollers, and a moto-style wall roller.

What to expect.

From the get-go, you know it will be big (It is the Worlds, after all). The track will have big lips with big valleys, so work on getting as much backside as possible, especially in the second and third straights. Throughout your riding, don't give up any opportunity to learn from your laps. Whether it's your practice or race laps, take every trip around the track with a purpose. Know your lines in the turns and protect them, everyone wants to be World #1, and the turns can make or break that dream.

PRACTICE THE LAST STRAIGHT. Take it at speed and even link it up with the third straight. We say this because of the last wall roller. We haven't seen a feature like this on the USA BMX National Series, and the more you are comfortable with it, the faster you'll be able to get up and over it to the line.

 The Lines to Try

Be on the lookout for the pedal manual to reign supreme on the first straight. Over the first step-up and over the entire camelback, the pedal manual power is our suspected go-to for many classes throughout the races. 

Once we get into the older classes in the second straight, manual downs will be used a lot. With a double manual up and over the first double to step down, then either the single manual to manual down across the triple to step-down or an extended triple manual all the way across. Into the turn, the younger racers should focus on getting a good pump on the step-up and attacking the pedal over the table into the turn. For those who can test out the pull-on to nose tap into turn two, avoid the stretched-out manual onto the flat of the manual.

Through the rhythm section on the third straight, single manuals or jumps can be done; however, we are interested to see the on-off line in action. From roller to double to the first part of the dragon's back, we think the top eight in the Elite and older challenge classes will have it in their bag of tricks.

The last straight is simple, but it's going to be interesting nonetheless. Singles all the way through until you get to the final feature, The Wall. Similar to a motocross spine jump, it doesn't look like the manual from the last roller will be possible (or at least reliable), making the only options a super sucked-up pump or a bubba scrub to get to the line fastest.

Photos by DIG Tracks | @dig_tracks on Instagram