BURNHAM BMX star Liam Phillips described Saturday’s fifth-place finish in the UCI BMX World Championship as ‘a bitter pill to swallow’, after a slow start in the final cost the 2013 world champion dear in Belgium.
Phillips won three races on his way to the final eight of the championship, but a slow start in the final cost the 26-year-old a second World Championship title, after torrential rain and strong winds had forced the racing programme to be reduced.
Liam told British Cycling afterwards: “I’m really disappointed in the fact that I didn’t have a good start in a World Championship final.
“I’ve proven over the last few years that I can deliver under those high pressure situations.
“Regardless of the result, the most frustrating thing is that I wasn’t able to deliver in those circumstances – and that’s a bitter pill to swallow to be honest.
“I was right there and I felt like that race was there to win.”
The adverse weather conditions forced the championship organisers to reduce the racing and bring the start time forward by an hour.
Every round became a straight knockout after the number of moto heats was reduced from three down to one – and conditions continued to deteriorate throughout the day.
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