In the women’s event, all eyes will be on Hannah Roberts. The 24-year-old American rider rebounded from a freak training incident at Paris 2024 to claim her sixth world title in Abu Dhabi last year.
While she’s yet to win that elusive Olympic gold, finishing second at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 and eighth at Paris 2024, Roberts has continued to be a picture of consistency at the UCI Urban Cycling World Championships.
In fact, she’s yet to finish off the podium in seven editions, losing only once to her teammate, Paris 2024 silver medallist Perris Benegas, in 2018.
With Benegas and Paris 2024 Olympic champion Deng Yawen absent from the start list, Roberts’ biggest competition in Riyadh might just be the trio of Sibei Sun, Fan Xiaotong and Sun Jiaqi from the People’s Republic of China.
Olympic medallists Nikita Ducarroz and Natalya Diehm will also fancy their chances, as BMX freestyle enters its third Olympic cycle, with the Olympic Games LA28 fast approaching on the horizon.