Leila Walker
Paris Olympian Leila Walker, won the Elite Women’s title at the UCI Oceania BMX Racing Championships in Bell Block, New Plymouth last weekend
Bennett Greenough
Walker, 19, registered two wins and a second placing, dominating from the front in the final.
It was one half of a Waipā double at the event.
Fellow Cambridge rider Bennett Greenough, 21, claimed the Elite Men’s title at the 2025 UCI Oceania BMX Racing Championships in Bell Block, New Plymouth last weekend.
It was Greenough’s first elite race after stepping up from under-23, where he placed second in the world for 2024 and was the national champion.
Te Awamutu rider Brook Penny missed the under-23 title by a slim margin, with Queenslander Isabella Schramm beating her by 3/100th of a second.
The event was hosted by the New Plymouth BMX Club and drew more than 500 entries
Greenough’s 17-year-old sister Lily, a 2023 junior world championship medallist, finished runner up to Walker in the final and took the junior honours overall.
Other Waipā riders at the event were Dan Franks, Rico D’Anvers, Jack Greenough and Finn Cogan.
“It was awesome. I’m stoked with how the riding went and how the event ran. It was cool to see so many riders out there,” Greenough said.
This is the St Peter’s School Cambridge alumnus’ 15th year of BMX racing and now he’s enjoying it on the big stage with his siblings.
“BMX is such a family orientated sport, from grassroots all the way through. It’s cool to have my brother Jack and sister Lily also competing at a high level. We train with each other day in and day out, feed off each other and make each other better,” Greenough said.
Greenough will head to France to race in about a month’s time and will spend a significant part of the year there racing the French Cup, European Cup and World Cup circuits.
Leila Walker (7) battles with Australia’s Sienna Pal (66) at the UCI BMX Racing Oceania Championships in New Plymouth. Photo: Cole McOnie/Cycling NZ
