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Great Britain’s Liam Phillips took fourth in the time trial Superfinal at the UCI BMX Supercross in Papendal.
The 24-year-old, second in the overall standings, stopped the clock in 38.735 seconds at the Olympic Training Centre as American world time trial champion Connor Fields made it back to back wins in the series in a time of 38.064.
In the elite women’s event, nineteen-year-old Charlotte Green finished 11th in 42.477 as Colombian Olympic champion Mariana Pajon showed her class to win in a time 37.207.
“It was a solid lap," Olympic BMX coach Grant White said of Phillips' Superfinal run.
“It takes a lot of skill to master the course and to be in the top four against some really good bike riders there’s some positive signs in there. He’s got a good first straight for racing."
British Cycling Olympic Academy Programme riders Kyle Evans (19th), Curtis Manaton (22nd), Grant Hill (23rd) and Dan McBride (31st) missed out on a Superfinal place but impressed to qualify in the top 64 to progress to Sunday’s racing in the Netherlands.
Tre Whyte was unable to compete after injuring his elbow during practice.
“Like we said before we came away it’s a big test - it’s a bigger scale of a track, it’s outdoor, it’s windy. For a lot of them they are still early in experiencing world cups," White said of the Academy performances.
“They were really, really strong performances, they did it when it mattered and strung it all together. It was really positive, they didn’t just scrape through and there were some really good laps in there. Today showed they can ride their bike well and things are heading in the right direction.”
On Green, in only her second world cup, White added: “It’s a big challenging track, Charlotte really got stuck in. In both of her time trials she strung the first two straights together really well.
"The third straight didn’t go as she planned in the first one but on the second one to string a decent third and fourth straight, I think that’s fantastic.
"She’s quite new to the world cup stage, it’s a solid result. To come away to Papendal and make the Superfinal, it’s really positive."
Phillips, who crashed out in the last round in Argentina, had taken over a second off his first time trial run effort of 39.750 to occupy first place.
But first Frenchman Damien Godet, then Dutch rider Jelle van Gorkom and finally overall series leader Fields bettered the time.
Olympic Development Programme rider Green, Britain’s sole representative in the women’s contest following the withdrawal of Shanaze Reade due a knee injury, also improved in the Superfinal, having posted 43.757 in her first run.
The event continues tomorrow with racing. Live coverage will be available to watch on the British Cycling site.
Results
