Willers benefits from crash to reach semis

Published: 3:05AM Friday August 10, 2012 Source: AAP

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Crashes put one Kiwi BMX rider out of the London Olympics but the other gained a huge advantage from another in today's quarter-finals.

Leading hope Marc Willers only needed three of the possible five rides to make the semi-finals, benefiting in his first race when all seven of his opponents crashed.

The news was not so good for 21-year-old Kurt Pickard, who was forced out of the last two races with injury after a nasty crash in his third race when in a good position to qualify.

Willers' speed from the start gave him a huge advantage, getting him to the front by the first corner of every race, keeping him clear of trouble when the rest of the field came to grief in his first race.

"That's why I train to get out in front, so I don't have to get caught up in all that stuff," he said.

"It was good to have that first cruisy lap and then forget those nerves and start again."

He was pipped on the line in the second race by France's Joris Daudet and then held off the same rider to win the third.

Willers now plans to "just go in and kick back" as he prepares for the semi-finals, hopeful of a medal on Saturday (NZT).

"The other guys have got two more laps left to waste a bit of energy so I'll just go home and relax and get ready for tomorrow."

Pickard had finished fifth and third in his first two races and was placed second in his quarter-final before crashing early in the third, after being hit from behind.

He injured both ankles and his side in the crash and couldn't take part in the last two races.

"As to be expected he's pretty gutted. His Olympic dream has come to end so he's pretty down," national coach Ken Cools said.

"The kid's a gladiator though - yesterday he crashed in warm-up and tweaked his ankle a bit so today when he woke up he could barely walk on his ankle so for him to put those two laps in that he did, he's a tough kid."

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