Walker back to winning ways, Willers finishes second in France

Former world champion Sarah Walker bounced back from injury to win the latest round of the UCI BMX World Supercross in France.

Walker, who suffered a wrist injury at the world championships, missed the recent round in San Diego but was in top form in Frejas to top the qualifying, winning her semifinal and dominating the final.

She got an excellent snap out of the gate and was first to the all-important first bend, and from there totally dominated to finish clear of Australian Lauren Reynolds and Colombia’s Mariana Pajon.

It lifted her to third overall in the standings despite contesting only two of the four rounds.

Teammate Marc Willers recovered from his crash of the Chula Vista final to finish second in the men’s final behind world champion Maris Strombergs.

He qualified back in 19th spot but blasted his way to win his quarterfinal, before finishing second to Australian Sam Willoughby in his semifinal.

Willers got an excellent start but was edged into the first corner by Strombergs from the inside lane and while the kiwi pushed hard, he could not pressure the world champion into a mistake.

It was a good result for Willers who has been in supreme form in recent weeks.

Fellow Cambridge rider Kurt James did not qualify for the quarterfinals.

Results, UCI BMX Supercross, Frejas, France

Men: Maris Strombergs (LATY) 1, Marc Willers (NZL) 2, Connor Fields (USA) 3.

Women: Sarah Walker (NZL) 1, Lauren Reynolds (AUS) 2, Mariana Pajon (COL) 3.