NBL Champion Kyle Bennett Selected for Olympic Team
May 28th, 2008
On behalf of the National Bicycle League (NBL), we would like to congratulate Kyle Bennett on being the first athlete named to the US Olympic BMX Racing Team – Well deserved! Bennett is the reigning NBL Elite Men's Champion, a title he has held three times (2002, 2004, 2007), and was officially recognized by USA Cycling as the first US Olympian for BMX.
Kyle will be watching the
New FREE AGENT Marc Willers Takes 2nd in Spanish UCI Round
February 10, 2008.
This past weekend was the first UCI World Cup of the 08 season in Madrid Spain. The race was for elite men only and the Free Agent World Team were out in full force looking for very important Olympic points and selection in a packed indoor arena with screaming fans watching from the sidelines. Argentina's Cristian Becerine and Ramiro Marino were riding well but bad luck struck them both in the quarter finals with both of them going out. Come final time, another record for the Free Agent World Team with 3 riders making the 8 men World Cup final! (No other team has done this at the World Cup level.)
Marc Willers, Kyle Bennett and Andres Jimenez all rode awesomely against the World's best and made it to the final, which was broadcast live on the Internet World Wide and live TV throughout Europe. New Zealand World Team rider Marc Willers backed up his World Cup win from last year with a huge 2nd place in the final and more points towards his place in the Olympics. Great job Marc. Kyle and Andres rode great but slow starts in the final and the track being so tight to pass on made it hard for them to come through the pack and they finished 6th and 8th. Still good Olympic points for all our guys in the final. The next UCI World Cup will be in Adelaide Australia in April.
Cristian Becerine Wins Saturday at ABA National inGuthrie OK
February 5, 2008
This past weekend was the 2nd round of the ABA National series in Guthrie, Oklahoma. With Kyle Bennett over in San Diego training with the US Olympic team, the World Team was represented by Cristian Becerine, Dale Holmes and UK Team rider Kelvin Batey who is in the U.S. training for the winter.
Cristian Becerine seems to be back to health taking a huge win on Saturday and some great form going into the World Cup in Spain next week. Great job, Cristian. Dale had a few crashes in Vet Pro this weekend costing me the wins but still got on the podium both days with 3rd place both days.
Visiting UK Team rider Kelvin Batey has been adjusting to U.S. racing during the last month, put together a great race finishing 4th in the AA class against the World’s best. The World Team will now fly out to Spain for the UCI World Cup next week.
Kyle Bennett Cannot Be Stopped!!!
January 29th
Kyle Bennett cannot be stopped! Kyle won the UCI race Friday and then backed it up Saturday with another big win in the NBL Nationals. Sunday's race was rained out, so everyone's result from Saturday was doubled. 3 huge scores for Kyle, who now leads both NBL Points and UCI Olympic Points qualification for the USA! Kyle will be spending a lot of time in the next few months at the USA Olympic training center in San Diego with other USA Olympic hopefuls training for Beijing.
Cristian Becerine has been suffering with a bad cold the last few weeks, but you would not think so in his riding. 7th in the UCI event after a bad start and two 3rd place results from the NBL race. Another podium weekend for Cristian and the Team.
Dale Holmes went out to Arizona with the team to hang out and do a little racing myself, placing 2nd in Vet Pro after slipping while in the lead.
In South America it was round 5 and 6 of their UCI Olympic points races in Argentina. Again, 3 Free Agent riders in the finals. Colombia's Andres Jimenez finished 2nd, Ramiro Marino 3rd and Fausto Endara 5th. Andres took 3rd on Saturday, giving him the overall victory for the weekend and all three team riders great points towards Olympic qualification.
FREE AGENT SWEEPS ABA FALL NATIONALS
October 29th, 2007
This past weekend was the ABA Fall Nationals down in Disney World, Orlando, Florida. The Free Agent Pro team were out in full force at this 3 day National. Kyle Bennett once again was flying, winning day 1 & 2, and a strong 2nd place on day 3 gave him enough points to also add the bonus the ABA was putting on the Disney World Triple Crown Trophy for the rider with the most points over the 3 days in their class. Kyle now goes into the Grand Nationals within striking distance of the ABA title and if he gets it will be the first rider in history to win the UCI Worlds, the NBL title and ABA all in the same year!
Ecuador World Team rider Fausto Endara, World Junior Champion, made the trip over and didn't disappoint, placing 2nd day 2 and winning day 3 and also winning the added bonus of The Triple Crown Disney Trophy in A Pro. Great job Fausto.
Cristian Becerine and Ramiro Marino were at the race and riding strong all weekend. Cristian made the podium day 2 and Ramiro grabbed a 4th on one of the days and continues to be a regular in the finals these days when racing in the States.
Dale Holmes raced Vet Pro this weekend winning all 3 days and earning the Triple Crown for his class and another victory for Free Agent. In fact, Free Agent was the Triple Crown winners in all 3 Pro divisions. Dale in Vet Pro, Fausto in A Pro and Kyle AA Pro! For sure Free Agent dominated the Disney Nationals!
Free Agent World Team: 10 National Titles in 2007
September 16th, 2007. Another weekend of racing and another win for Free Agent's Kyle Bennett. This time the winning for Kyle came at a very important Qualifier up in Canada. Great job Kyle. Next week most World Team Racers will be at the next round of the UCI World Cup in Salt Lake City at the Dew Tour.
All the World's best Elite riders will be present to get as many Olympic points as possible! The Free agent World Team will be in full force. So far this season the World Team have picked up 10 titles from around the World, alongside UCI World Team Champions:
Thomas Allier French and European Champion
Kelvin Batey British Champion
Caroline Buchanan double Australian National Champion
Fausto Endara Equador National Champion, South American Champion and World Champion
Kyle Bennett NBL Champion and World Champion
Free Agent World Team UCI World Champions!
2007 NBL #1 & #2 Men's Pro: Kyle Bennett & Cristian Becerine
Another record breaking weekend for the Free Agent Team over at the NBL Grand Nationals in Kentucky. Cristian Becerine and Kyle Bennett went into the Grands 1st and 2nd in Points, and came out National #1 and #2, with Kyle winning the race and the title, and Cristian 2nd in the race and National #2. This picture shows how close Kyle and Cristian were throughout the race...and season.
This is Kyle's 2nd title this year. An unbelievable year so far for Kyle and FA. Not only was Kyle and Cristian in the final in Kentucky but visiting FA rider from Argentina, Ramiro Marino, also made the final placing 5th, and usprobikes/Free Agent French rider, Thomas Hamon, was 7th in the final. 4 FA riders in the 8 man Grand National finals! Another 1st for Free Agent!
In Junior Men, Junior World Champion FA's Fausto Endara made the trip out to the States and looked to be a favourite to win the Junior event after winning every race leading into the final. A crash stopped the win, but Fausto was still able to salvage a 5th for his effort, and still a great result for the rider from Equador.
Over on the West Coast, Dale Holmes made his Veteran Pro Debut (over 30) in BMX and came away with the win in Reno Nevada.
A great weekend for Free Agent and congratulations to all our Team riders.
Click here to watch the go211.com video of the race
World Champs: Kyle Bennett Men's Pro; Fausto Endaro Jr. Cruiser
Kyle Bennett on the top step of the 2007 UCI/NBL World Championship podium. Kyle earned his THIRD World Championship jersey, joining Gary Ellis as the only 2 racers with 3 World Championships. Khalen Young (AUS) and Randy Stumpfhauser (USA) places 2nd and 3rd.
Kyle will be representing the USA and Free Agent at the 2008 Olympics in Bejing.
Free Agent World Team Racer Fausto Endara (ECU) is now the World Champion in Junior Cruiser. Yvan Lapraz (SUI) and Joe Sowers (USA) finished 2nd and 3rd.
With Kyle and Fausto's two wins plus other top placings, the Free Agent World Team won the World Champion Team category.
Free Agent World Team
Every member on the team has been hand selected due to their experience and success in the BMX world," stated team manager Dale Homes. "Every rider on our 2008 team has the makings of a potential Olympic medalist." Leading up to the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, the Free Agent World Team will focus on Junior and Elite classes for 2008 with a crop of new signings.
Special thanks to our co-sponsors Azonic, Kenda USA, Sun-Ringle,
ODI Grips, Shimano, Thomson, THE-Industries and Vans for their support. Please check out their websites for up-to-date information.
Please check out ababmx.com, nbl.org, vans.com, daleholmes.com, flyingpapayafactory.com, tomhaugenbmx.com , bmxpros.com and bmxmania.com for more info about Factory Free Agent riders and upcoming BMX Racing and Freestyle events.
Free Agent R.A.C.E.R. Team Members
Check out the Free Agent R.A.C.E.R. Team Members in action