Sports

Local rider competing for world BMX title

Luca Shaw

By Bill Moss, Published: August 15, 2014

Two Hendersonville brothers have made a name for themselves in mountain biking and are traveling the world among the most elite racers on the planet.

Luca Shaw, a 2014 graduate of Hendersonville High School, finished first on Aug. 2 in the Men Juniors Division at the World Cup #5 Downhill Race in Canada. He heads next to France for the finals of a six-city mountain biking series that has featured competition in South Africa, Scotland, Australia, Austria and Quebec. Luca's brother, Walker, is also a champion mountain biker.
Walker ShawLuca won the Union Cycliste International (UCI) World Cup #5 Downhill Race in Mont Sainte Anne, Canada. He was just named to represent the United States at the 2014 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in the Junior Downhill division, which takes place Sept. 2-7 in Norway.
And this past weekend Luca scored a silver medal finish in the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in Windham, N.Y., finishing just 0.844 of a second behind of Great Britain's Taylor Vernon.

"He's currently leading the standings for juniors," said his father, Doug Shaw. "His brother Walker just moved up to Elite."
Luca starts at Brevard College the day he gets back from the World Cup championships. He has an academic and mountain biking scholarship.
The race in France is the final stop in the series in which riders accumulate points toward a season title. The 2014 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Norway comes down to one race.
"I think the series is more important because that shows how well you've been doing the entire year," Doug Shaw said.
A competitive mountain biker himself, Shaw said both boys had been riding motocross bikes since they were little. He praised the Henderson County Recreation Department with helping to fuel their love for racing.
"I tell you what really kicked it in was when they built that BMX track in Jackson Park," he said. "And of course where we live is one of the top mountain biking areas in the world. They just got faster and faster."
Luca now has two sponsors, SRAM and Troy Lee Designs, that pay for his travel.
He won his spot on the USA World Championship team by winning at World Cup #1 and placing third at World Cup #4. He won again at the World Cup #5 event in Canada.
USA Cycling on Aug. 4 announced the 25-member cross country and 16-member downhill teams to compete at the World Championships in Norway.
Luca and Walker are the sons of Doug and his wife, Griet. The boys' grandparents, Ellen and Frank Shaw, live in Carolina Village.