Jaden Chipman brings the maple leaf to the first UCI urban cycling world championships

17 yr old Jaden Chipman will represent ?? tomorrow at the very first #UrbanWorldChampionships in ?? #bmxfreestyle pic.twitter.com/5H6goZBNv6

— Cycling Canada (@CyclingCanada) November 8, 2017

This week, the inaugural UCI urban cycling world championships get underway in Chengdu, China, continuing from Nov. 8 through 12. As one of the most populated cities in Western China, Chengdu—with 14.5 million people—is certainly well-suited to host the event, the first of its kind.

It’s a new concept, bringing the global best in the following three disciplines to the big cities of the world: mountain bike eliminator (XCE), trials and BMX freestyle park. Over short, technical courses, the world’s top specialists in those three disciplines will vie for the rainbow jersey of the UCI world championship, rolling out in heats of four. The tricks, difficulties, course obstacles and judgments of originality will be the deciding factors of all three events, and Canada, the nation’s cycling body recently announced, has declared the country’s representation at this first UCI urban cycling competition.

Canada will have one athlete representing the country: 17-year-old Jaden Chipman, hailing from New Lowell, Ont., who will compete in the Men’s BMX freestyle competition.

Considering Chipman’s resume of achievements, it’s a solid call. The young Ontario athlete recently took the Pepsi Pro/Am competition on Oct. 21. He’s been riding BMX since 2012. Chipman also finished 42nd overall in the UCI BMX freestyle park World Cup. With BMX freestyle having been recently added to the Olympic calendar, having Canada represented in this discipline at the UCI urban worlds, Cycling Canada officials commented, is an important opportunity to get ready to contend with the world’s top riders.

“It is exciting to now have BMX freestyle added to the Olympic program for Tokyo,” remarked Jacques Landry, chief technical officer and head coach with Cycling Canada. “These up-and-coming urban worlds are important, as it will be an opportunity for cycling federations to get a better handle on this newly added Olympic cycling discipline.”

“Even though we have only one entry in Chengdu, it is still important to get the lay of the land,” Chengdu said. “I’m expecting my visit, as a Cycling Canada official, to be an eye-opener.”

The UCI world championships comntinue in Chengdu, China until Nov. 12.