EXCITEMENT levels are high for the Australian rounds of the UCI BMX Supercross World Cup, to be held in Bathurst next month.
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In a rare move, BMX Australia held a training camp for riders in Bathurst this weekend, giving them the opportunity to familiarise themselves with the track they'll be riding on in a few weeks.
Among the riders to make the journey to the Central West was Wollongong-based Kai Sakakibara.
The 24-year-old will be chasing his first world cup win when he returns to Bathurst next month.
He relished the opportunity to hit the track again ahead of the event.
"A lot of us from all around Australia are getting together, basically sussing out the track, sussing out the lines, just making sure we know everything that there is to know about the track before it comes race time next month," he said on Sunday.
"... [The track] it's good, it's definitely different. It's not your typical world cup track.
"I think one of the biggest characteristics of this track is how much it falls from the first straight to the last straight, you just gain so much speed because it's so downhill."
- WATCH: BMX riders practice on Bathurst track at training camp
Sakakibara said that, because riders live all across Australia, it's not often training camps are organised, but this one was certainly appreciated.
"It's the first time Australia has had a world cup since 2008, so it's a pretty big deal and we want to make sure we are prepared and making the most of the fact that we've got a home world cup," he said.
Bathurst's BMX track was built at the Bathurst Bike Park in 2016.
It was announced in October, 2018 that Bathurst would be hosting rounds three and four of the world cup in February 2020.
To prepare, Bathurst Regional Council made improvements to the international-standard track last year and started construction on a club house beside the track.
Bathurst's two-day event, to be held on the weekend of February 8 and 9, will follow on the back of the series opener at Shepparton the weekend prior.