Whyte leads British charge in Papendal

Whyte leads British charge in Papendal

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Kye Whyte, Kyle Evans and Ross Cullen all reached the quarter-finals of Round Four of the UCI BMX Supercross World Cup in Papendal.

Teenager Whyte, who clinched his first-ever World Cup victory in Manchester in April, was the best of the Brits – just like he was in Round Three at the same Dutch venue on Saturday.

And he was closely followed by Evans and Cullen in the fourth edition of this year’s World Cup campaign.

Kye leads the way

Whyte, who looks set to surpass his points haul from the 2018 season, sailed through the opening round by winning his heat in 37.107 before finishing third in his 1/16 final race in 36.462.

The 19-year-old chalked up another third-placed finish in his 1/8 final, crossing the line in 36.695, but his campaign came to an end at the quarter-final stage.

He was sixth in the third heat (36.975) while compatriot Evans got into trouble and finished well behind the pack in 1:04.293.

Cullen, who had earlier come through the last-chance qualifiers, hit the track in the opening heat of the quarter-final stage but was eighth in 46.632.

There were four further British riders in action in Papendal, with Tre Whyte – Kye’s elder sibling – going out in the 1/8 finals, finishing sixth in his heat in 37.025.

Paddy Sharrock also reached the same stage, finishing sixth in heat seven in 37.509, while Quillan Isidore was knocked out in the 1/16 finals.

Ryan Martin made it to the last-chance qualifiers but finished fifth in his heat.

And in the women’s section, Bethany Shriever made it to the 1/8 finals.

She was second in her opening heat in 38.283 but was last in the next round in a time of 45.992, with eventual winner Laura Smulders, of the Netherlands, coming first in the heat.

Round Three

In Round Three on Saturday, Kye Whyte was the 10th-fastest male rider overall as he reached the semi-finals.

The youngster (36.687) very nearly made it all the way to the final stage but was pipped into the qualification spots by France’s Arthur Pilard (36.457) – he was also bested by Niek Kimmann, who went on to win the World Cup title.

Sharrock and Tre Whyte made it all the way to the quarter-finals while in the women’s competition, Shriever was right in the mix as she made the semi-finals, finishing 15th overall.