Nadine Aeberhard won her first UCI Pump Track world title on a Friday in Mentougou, Beijing, closing a long chase with a ride of 29.593 seconds. The Swiss rider edged two-time defending champion Sabina Košárková of the Czech Republic by just 0.085 seconds in the women’s elite final.
Eighty-five thousandths in Beijing
This time the roles reversed, and Košárková had to race with a broken metacarpal in her hand.
The margin was the narrowest on the women’s podium. Latvia’s Vineta Petersone won the small final in 30.308 seconds to take bronze, while Switzerland’s three-time world champion Christa von Niederhäusern finished fourth in 30.662 seconds.
Two silvers, finally gold
Aeberhard had been runner-up twice before, in Bern in 2019 and in Durban in 2024. The gold in Beijing marks the breakthrough for a 24-year-old from Bern who also races the UCI BMX Racing World Cup, placed fifth and fourth in rounds at Papendal in June, and won a European under-23 title in 2021.
The championship itself broke ground. Held on a new 275-metre track built into the mountains of western Beijing, it was the first edition staged in China. The circuit marked the 1000th Velosolutions pump track, with Great Wall-inspired towers framing the course. Local school students sat in the stands as 95 elite riders from 29 nations competed.
In the men’s event, Dutchman Jesse Elzenga turned his 2025 bronze into the world title, and Switzerland’s Tristan Borel took bronze for his third world medal.
