With four REDLINE Global Team members - Godet (France), DeVecchi (Italy), van den WILDENBERG and van der BEIZEN (The Netherlands) in the Semi’s, there was the distinct possibilty that Flight bikes could’ve filled half of the gate in the Olympic main.

But after three rounds of thrills and spills in the Mens Semis, only two RL reps would make the cut to the big O’show. Dutch dominator ROB van den WILDENBERG and French ripper DAMIEN GODET found themselves on the main stage, lining up against some of the toughest competition they’ll ever meet - Day, Robinson, Latvia’s Stromsburg, Aussie Graves, Jiminez and South African Nihlapo.

Godet and Van den Wildenberg grabbed middle lanes, and were ready to get their “snap” on. From the get-go, it was all Stromsburg; the reigning UCi World Champ. But the Americans Day and Donny were nipping on his back knobbies all the way down the second straight.
Skyin’ the 40 foot gap of the Girls berm, it was wheels to wheel mid-pack, with our Redline heroes poised to make their move to a top-4 spot. As they all hit the asphalt of turn two at mach speeds, Nihlapo lost traction and slid out, sending his bike in to Jared Graves, whose bike flipped up in front of France’s Damien Godet. Meanwhile, Van den Wildenberg managed to take the highroad and barely escaped the flaming carnage - unlike Godet who had nowhere to go and joined the second turn pileup.

In the end, BMX’s first Olympic Gold medal went to Latvian Maris Stromsberg, with USA favorite Mikey Day claiming silver and Donny Robinson scoring bronze. Congrats to all who put on a GREAT show for the millions of viewers; introducing many parents and kids to this awesome sport called BMX Racing!

For years now, it had been predicted by most that REDLINE~UK’s SHANAZE READE would become the Golden girl of BMX’s Olympic debut. But from the very first semi, it was not the complete domination we’d all had come to expect.

Unusually, the 17 year old BMX prodigy kicked off the evening by getting balled up in her first semi and had to settle for a 7th place. In round two, she scored a 2nd place behind France Latetia le’Corguille. Sitting with 9 points, the pressure was on Shanaze to grab a top score in orderto get a top-4 ticket to the main event.
Here is how they finished after the three rounds; taking the top-4 finishers to the main:

ELITE WOMEN SEMI #1
Jill Kintner (USA)
Shanaze Reade (UK)          
Laetitia le Corguille (FRA) 
Nicole Callisto (AUS)          
Tanya Bailey (AUS)            
Lieke Klaus (NED)             
Maria Belen Dutto (ARG)   
Aniko Hodi (HUN)            

French MTB’er Anne-Caroline Chauson, in her final bicycle race of her long and illustrious career, had been predicted to be the closest to giving the Great Brit a run for the Gold but would not meet up with Redline’s wonder woman until the main event.

ELITE WOMEN SEMI #2
Anne-Caro Chausson (FRA)  
Sarah Walker (NZL)                  
Gabriela Diaz (ARG)                  
Sammy Cools (CAN)  
Jana Horakova (CZE)              
Jenny Fahndrich (SUI)             
Amanda Sorensen (DEN)       
Liyun Ma (CHN)                

In the main, the eight fastest women in the World lined up for tens of millions of TV viewers to see what BMX is all about. From the start, Shanaze and rival Anne-Caro were straight to the front of the hard-chargin’ pack. Over the first jump, Canadian Samantha Cools looped and bailed. Hitting the first turn at high speeds, in the very space where she’d crashed twice so far, Shanaze played it safe enabling the flyin’ French woman to swoop underneath and shut down the Redline rider’s line. Shanaze was forced to dive to the bottom of the track and got back on the gas, pullingup alongside Chauson. Down the second and third straights, the two battled bar to bar with Anne-Caroline pulling a slight lead with her smoother jumping skills from years of MTB downhill racing.
In the final turn, Shanaze was still within striking distance .. the key word being STRIKE. In what can only be summed up as a “It’s GOLD or nothing” move, Shanaze dove to the inside and cut hard in to Anne-Caroline’s rear triangle in a last ditch effort. Rather than to wait for a drag race to the finishline, Reade took a stab at a solid Chauson, who held her ground and sent the Brit bailing off blance and bashing in to the paved asphault.
For Shanaze and Redline, all of the hopes and dreams of Olympic glory in 2008 dramatically came to an end in the final turn.  And tomorow morning, all sights will now be set on Medal redemption in England in 2012. 

As we’re all watching the Olympics; chances are if you’re a BMXer then you are picturing yourself riding around the track, or wondering what it’s be like to do so. Some of you may even be dreaming of hitting this ultimate Supercross course.

Well … now you can. Sort of.  Click here for a ride around the US olympic training Center’s “Beijing Replica Track” - from behind the handlebars of Team USA’s MIKEY DAY. CLICK HERE for your hot lap.

Click here for full results of WOMENS TIME TRIALS.  Shanaze slid out in turn one in her first TT, but came back strong to get the second fastest time of the day - giving her 2nd lanne choice in the gate for the semi and main.  Meanwhile, Dutch gal Leike Klaus wound up 11th in the TT, and will be gunnig for a spot in the final.

Day one is done; having seen some thrills and spills in Time Trials and the three 1/4’s (or motos) for the 32 Men. In the end, REDLINE’s Global Team came out extremely well with four of our 6 Elite Men moving on to day two’s semis.

TIME TRIALS: First up came Time Trials; where the athletes would race against the clock twice and count their fastest lap. When the dust cleared, Redline had three Global Team riders in the Top-10; with France’s DAMIEN GODET being 3^rd fastest, RAYMON ve der BIEZEN getting 5^th and Italy’s MANUEL DeVECCHI rounding out the Top 10. 
This may play an important part in tonight’s semi’s and if (or when) they make the main event – as they will get first or second choice in lane position.

WOMENS TIME TRIALS: According to the BBC website, SHANAZE READE crashed in her first TT run, but came back strong in the 2^nd try to score 2^nd fastest time of the day. French MTB’er Anne-Caroline also crashed in one of her TT’s, but wound up with the faster time. Don’t worry, though - it sounds like Shanaze is good to go – according to the BBC website.

MENS QUARTER FINALS: 4 groups (made up of the 32 riders) ran 3 “motos”; taking 4 out of each group to move on to today’s semi’s. This meant half of the field would be cut; and of our 6 Redline Elite Men, 4 moved on. 
ROBERT DeWILDE had trouble in his first and third rounds, having to disapointedly settle for 8th. His second moto was good, but transfering out was not in the cards for Affro Bob. Norway’s SEBASTIAN KARTSFJORD is also out, after scoring 5-6-8 in his three races.

The remaining Redline riders racing in tonoght’s Semi’s are:
NL – Raymon Van der Biezen (#121)    Placed 4th-1st-5th  in the three ¼’s
NL – Rob Van der Wildenberg (#72)     Placed 2nd-5th-1st in the three ¼’s
ITA – Manuel DeVecchi (#26)               Placed 3rd-6th-2nd in the three ¼’s
FRA – Damien Godet (#69)                   Placed 3rd-4th-6th in the three ¼’s

Day two will kick off with Mens and Womens Semi’s. Below, is who will line up in the gate. The 1st semi is loaded (stacked with the USA riders), while Semi #2 is loaded with three Redline riders.

Men’s Semi 1
Mike Day, USA
Marc Willers, NZL
Donny Robinson, USA
Sifiso Nhlapo, RSA
Andres Jimenez, COL
Arturs Matisons, LAT
Raymon van der Biezen, NED = REDLINE
Kyle Bennett, USA

Men’s Semi 2
Jared Graves, AUS
Cristian Becerine, ARG
Roger Rinderknecht, SUI
Rob van den Wildenburg, NED = REDLINE
Manual de Vecchi, ITA = REDLINE
Damien Godet, FRA = REDLINE
Kamakazi, AUS
Maris Strombergs, LAT

REDLINE WOMEN RACING BEGINS TONIGHT WITH SEMI’s:
Look for Great Britain’s Shanaze Reade (#1) to come back from her Time Trial crash, and don’t count out The Netherland’s Leike Klaus (#66). She could be a surprise in the main event.

SUMMARY: The two Dutchies and our Italian proved they can hang with the best of the Americans and Latvians. There are Medal possibilities, for sure - for our Flight bikes. Damien Godet has been mid-pack, but will have good lane-choice from his No.3 ranking in the Time Trial. DeVecchi and Van der Beizen are defintely the two most impressive Redline riders so far. Manuel’s battle with currnt World Champ Maris Stromsberg, swooping inside of turn one and powering past him down the second straightaway was awesome and could be a sign of things to come

Just got these photos of SHANAZE READE’s custom Redline Flight bike; equiped with Shimano DXR components and the SRM power-meter. Gotta love the Great Brit stem, too.

Could this be the Gold-medal winning bike in the Womens class on August 21? We’ll just have to wait and see. 

Goin’ for Gold? You bet’cha. Here is NBC’s Olympic Bio page, to get to know more about Redline’s Shanaze Reade.

From NBC’s Olympic Bio pages — learn more about the guy who has one of the best shots at winning the Beijing Tim Trials … and then taking a Medal. Click here to find out more.

From NBC’s Olympic page — find out more about BMX’s Italian Stallion