BMX world champ will earn crown in Sarasota

SARASOTA — The 2016 Union Cycliste Internationale BMX Supercross World Cup finals will be held in Sarasota County next year.

The UCI BMX Supercross World Cup is the premiere BMX racing series in the world and is televised globally, say officials with Visit Sarasota County, the area's tourism marketing arm. The event, according to a release, is scheduled for October. More than 250 male and female athletes from 35 countries are expected to compete in the races.

“We are honored Sarasota County was chosen as a location for this high profile event,” Sarasota Sports Commission official Nicole Rissler says in a statement.

This will be the first UCI BMX Supercross World Cup event hosted in Sarasota, one of five destinations selected by UCI to hold 2016 World Cup rounds. Other locations include tracks in England, the Netherlands and Rock Hill, S. C. The overall World Cup Champion will be crowned in Sarasota.

Ohio-based Global SX Events manages the World Cup for Union Cycliste Internationale, and helped select Sarasota as the final place for the event. “Sarasota has a long tradition in BMX, recently celebrated their 40th anniversary and with their new state-of-the-art BMX track, it will be the perfect location for a World Cup event,” Global SX Events CEO and founder Johan Lindstrom says in the statement.