2021 USA BMX Citrus Classic Nationals

Filed under General on February 04, 2021 | Comment(s)

Back to Back in the Sunshine State

Its been a long time since we had back to back nationals in such close proximity to each other. You’d probably need to look back to the days of the summer tours of the 1990’s to find anything remotely close. If the two largest nationals in Florida that USA BMX has ever hosted are any indication, we may see this format more often in the future. Saturday’s 245 moto count was the second largest Florida national in USA BMX history.

Jeremy Smith and Anderson Souza take flight into turn one.

There were a few impressive rivalries that happened under the stadium lights in Sarasota. One being the 15x Battle between Supercross’ PJ O’Brien and BMX Sharks’ Cedric Cade. On Saturday Cade bested the field until the triple step up leading into the first turn where it appears that he unclipped. This caused him to enter the turn way too wide and allowed the Supercross newbie to swoop inside and take over the lead. While this was going down, Elite Vendetta’s Tyler Bailey, who was in last place, would rail the first turn and hit the pro section. By the end of the straightaway he’d find himself in third. Elijah Heany and Ethan Popavich would make their way by Bailey to grab the other two podium spots.

15 EXPERT TOTAL RIDERS = 32 GROUPS = 6

• 1PATRICK O'BRIEN, SUPERCROSS BMX, EDISON, NJ
• 2ETHAN POPOVICH, MUDSLINGER BIKE SHOP, VALPARAISO, IN
• 3ELIJAH HEANEY, FACTORY POWERS BMX, MURFREESBORO, TN
• 4TYLER BAILEY, VENDETTA/ELITE BICYCLES, SMITHFIELD, RI
• 5ROCCO (THE BEAST) PESATURO, JRBICYCLES.COM/SPEEDCO/AVIAN, ROYAL PALM BEACH, FL
• 6SIMON ACOSTA, BAY AREA BMXERS, MEDELLIN
• 7CEDRIC (THE ENTERTAINER) CADE, BMX SHARKS, LAS VEGAS, NV
• 8DRAKE VELADOR, PROFILE, HOLLISTER, CA

Fall Risk Racing's Neven Steinmetz was out front of the 41-45 Women's Cruiser class all weekend long.

Newly turned 5x Nico Moulton leaps into the second turn.

Day two saw O’Brien and Cade back at it with the action starting in the 2nd turn during the main. Cade again went a little wide allowing O'Brien to dive underneath him and put up a great block of the inside at the exit of the turn. Cade was feverishly trying to back inside of the Supercross pilot but ultimately ended up loading too much weight on his front end causing him to flip over the bars. This allowed Bay Area’s Simon Acosta and Black Widow’s Marcus Moore to secure their spots on the podium.

15 EXPERT TOTAL RIDERS = 31 GROUPS = 6

• 1PATRICK O'BRIEN, SUPERCROSS BMX, EDISON, NJ
• 2SIMON ACOSTA, BAY AREA BMXERS, MEDELLIN
• 3MARCUS (MANIAC) MOORE, BLACK WIDOW BMX, ANDOVER, MN
• 4ELIJAH HEANEY, FACTORY POWERS BMX, MURFREESBORO, TN
• 5TYLER BAILEY, VENDETTA/ELITE BICYCLES, SMITHFIELD, RI
• 6ETHAN POPOVICH, MUDSLINGER BIKE SHOP, VALPARAISO, IN
• 7DALLAS GARDNER, DAYLIGHT CYCLES, RICHMOND, VA
• 8CEDRIC (THE ENTERTAINER) CADE, BMX SHARKS, LAS VEGAS, NV

7 Inter Ezra Westfall keeps it smooth down the second straight. He finished on the podium for day one.

The 13 Girls Expert class saw another formidable battle between World Champions Nicole Foranda and Alexis Alden. They would swap wins over the two days of competition. Day one saw Alden pop out to an early lead but the Colombian was languishing just behind her as they exited turn two. Foranda got in a few extra cranks before hitting the third straight split section on the Alden’s left side, the inside of the track. She’d go by about ¾’s of the way down the straight away and never look back. The second day was set up just like the previous with Alden leading on the exit of the second turn. This time the J&R superstar closed up the inside line and would go on to victory.

13 GIRLS EXPERT TOTAL RIDERS = 12 GROUPS = 2

• 1NICOLE FORONDA, BAY AREA BMXERS, MEDELLIN
• 2ALEXIS (AA) ALDEN, JRBICYCLES.COM/SPEEDCO/AVIAN, PEACHTREE CITY, GA
• 3RILEY (MAD RABBIT) JORDAN, PROFILE EXTREME, ORANGE PARK, FL
• 4LOTUS STOTLER, VELOCITY BIKE CO, BUNKER HILL, WV
• 5SAMANTHA WILLIAMSON, SSQUARED GA, GROVETOWN, GA
• 6BROOKE STEVENS, NEENAH, WI
• 7ADALYN BRITTON, BREAKAWAY BICYCLES, WHITEHALL, MI
• 8MADISON (MADITUDE) EVELAND, DAYLIGHT CYCLES GIRLS, NINE MILE FALLS, WA

13 GIRLS EXPERT TOTAL RIDERS = 12 GROUPS = 2

• 1ALEXIS (AA) ALDEN, JRBICYCLES.COM/SPEEDCO/AVIAN, PEACHTREE CITY, GA
• 2NICOLE FORONDA, BAY AREA BMXERS, MEDELLIN
• 3MADISON (MADITUDE) EVELAND, DAYLIGHT CYCLES GIRLS, NINE MILE FALLS, WA
• 4BROOKE STEVENS, NEENAH, WI
• 5SAMANTHA WILLIAMSON, SSQUARED GA, GROVETOWN, GA
• 6RILEY (MAD RABBIT) JORDAN, PROFILE EXTREME, ORANGE PARK, FL
• 7ADALYN BRITTON, BREAKAWAY BICYCLES, WHITEHALL, MI
• 8LOTUS STOTLER, VELOCITY BIKE CO, BUNKER HILL, WV

Valentino Tarquino (417) and Nicholas Sanchez (42) are two of the hottest up and coming 13x's in Florida.

Bombshell's Natalia Kovacs ruled the 9 Girls Expert class both days.

The back to back Florida weekend was a BIG hit with those who were lucky enough to attend. Hats off to all the fine folks at Sarasota BMX, Chad Grace and Greg Harrison for rocking the mic all weekend long, and to the entire Florida BMX community. I can’t wait to come back to the Sunshine State.