Freia Challis and Bethany Shriever enjoyed an outstanding spell in China, picking up valuable points across the four rounds of the 2026 UCI BMX Racing World Cup held there. Challis produced a clean sweep in the Under-23 category, securing four consecutive victories across two weekends. Shriever, meanwhile, returned to winning ways in the Elite category, alongside two further runner-up finishes. With only one round of the season remaining, both British riders are firmly in contention to claim the overall World Cup title.
Challis Unstoppable as Shriever Returns to the Fore
Freia Challis delivered a particularly impressive performance in rounds five and six of the World Cup, held in Mentougou, China, in early October. Having already won the opening round of the season in Sarrians, the British rider had subsequently endured more mixed fortunes before returning to the top step of the podium in China.
In the Under-23 category, Challis first won round five ahead of Maya Savina before backing up her performance with another victory the following day. This time, she finished ahead of Lily Greenough to secure her second consecutive win. Two races, two victories: Challis made the perfect start to her Chinese campaign, rediscovering the consistency that had eluded her in Papendal, where she crashed on the opening day and was unable to compete on the second.
Meanwhile, Bethany Shriever continued her pursuit of consistency in the Elite women’s category. The British world champion finished second in round five behind Laura Smulders before experiencing a slightly more difficult race the following day, crossing the line in fourth place.
The following weekend, in Chongli, China, both British riders continued their impressive form. Challis won round seven ahead of Derin Merten before repeating the feat the following day, comfortably outperforming the rest of the field. With those two additional victories, she extended her winning streak to four consecutive World Cup rounds. At just 18 years old, and in her first season competing in the Under-23 category, she is delivering on the promise she showed earlier in the campaign and establishing herself as the rider to beat among the Under-23s, a category in which she may not remain for very long.
Shriever, meanwhile, won round seven in 40.817 seconds, securing her first victory since her triumph in round four at Papendal. She held off her rivals with a composed performance from start to finish, returning to the top step of the podium at a crucial point in the season. The following day, she finished second in round eight behind Laura Smulders, confirming her return to the forefront of the competition with another impressive result.
These performances build on two already well-established careers. An Olympic champion in Tokyo in 2021 and a four-time Elite world champion, with her most recent world title coming last July, Shriever has a record that makes her one of the leading riders in the sport. Following the first eight rounds, she sits second in the Elite overall standings on 2,850 points, just 11 points behind the Netherlands’ Laura Smulders, who leads on 2,861.
In the Under-23 category, Challis’s four consecutive victories have significantly strengthened her position ahead of the final round. She leads the standings by 304 points over Australia’s Isabella Schramm and needs only to secure a handful of points to guarantee the overall World Cup title. More impressively, of the six races Challis has completed this season, she has won five and finished third in the other. The final two rounds in Sarasota, United States, on 31 October and 1 November will offer another opportunity to extend her winning streak, in a weekend that could see two British riders crowned World Cup champions.
