Fansided

5 BMXers you have to watch at X Games Minneapolis 2018

By Michelle Bruton

MINNEAPOLIS, MN - JULY 13: Jamie Bestwick flips during his 2nd run during the BMX Vert Final at X Games on July 13, 2017 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by David Berding/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MN - JULY 13: Jamie Bestwick flips during his 2nd run during the BMX Vert Final at X Games on July 13, 2017 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by David Berding/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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X Games Minneapolis kicks off on July 19 at U.S. Bank Stadium. From rising stars to established veterans, the BMX talent represented this year is unmatched.

Longtime BMX fans know they’re in for a treat at the 2018 installment of the Summer X Games, held this year in Minneapolis, Minnesota. After all, legends Jamie Bestwick and Ryan Nyquist are still throwing down in the halfpipe and dirt course, respectively.

There are six BMX events for fans of riding bikes to check out this year — BMX park best trick, street, dirt, park, big air and vert.

Currently, the X Games only offers men’s BMX events. However, there is a women’s park demo to be held on Friday, July 20, at 6:30 p.m. ET, where fans can see the best female talent the sport has to offer. Sport organizer and pro BMX rider Nina Buitrago says to keep an eye on Hannah Roberts, fresh off a UCI BMX Freestyle World Cup park title this past weekend. Germany’s Lara Lessman came in second in that event, and both women could represent their nations when BMX makes its Olympic debut in 2020.

In the men’s events, there are plenty of up-and-comers either looking for their first turn on the podium or their first-ever gold medal. Let’s take a look at five of the most exciting BMXers the X Games will have to offer from Thursday through Sunday at X Games Minneapolis 2018.

MINNEAPOLIS, MN – JULY 13: Jamie Bestwick flips during his 2nd run during the BMX Vert Final at X Games on July 13, 2017 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by David Berding/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MN – JULY 13: Jamie Bestwick flips during his 2nd run during the BMX Vert Final at X Games on July 13, 2017 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by David Berding/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

Jamie Bestwick (Vert)

Even the most casual observers of BMX know the name Jamie Bestwick. The Britisth-born vert biker owns 12 of the 22 BMX Vert gold medals that have ever been awarded in X Games history.

The 47-year-old also set a record when he won nine consecutive titles between 2007 and 2014 — nabbing two in one year in 2013 at X Games Barcelona and X Games Foz do Iguaçu.

Bestwick’s reign hit a bump in the road in 2015 when 28-year-old Vince Byron edged him for gold, leaving Bestwick to settle for silver for the first time in nearly a decade. Byron took gold once again last year in Minneapolis, thanks to his arsenal of 540 combos.

Needless to say, the gauntlet has been thrown in 2018 as Bestwick and Byron are set once again to duke it out for top honors. Bestwick is currently eighth on the all-time list of X Games medalists, with 18.

“This year anybody could win it,” Bestwick tells FanSided about this year’s vert competition. “That’s kind of the level that we’re at.”

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