After his Oct. 9 victory in the UCI BMX Supercross World Cup, the next big challenge for Latvian cyclist Māris Štrombergs is to secure his sport’s “quadruple crown” with victories in all four top races.

Štrombergs, who won the gold medal in BMX during the 2008 Beijing Olympics, took first in the Union Cycliste Internationale-sponsored event in southern France, according to UCI’s website, www.uci.ch.

He finished the course in a time of 31.805 seconds, beating out New Zealand’s Marc Willers, who earned silver in a time of 31.960.

“This is amazing. I felt so tired today. I was not expecting this,” Štrombergs said after the race, according to UCI’s website. “I was running a temperature and I could not have done one more race! But I kept focussed on this last one and gave it all. This is great. But I am not done yet. I want to win it all.”

Štrombergs reclaimed his title as world champion in August by winning the BMX competition of the UCI BMX World Championships in South Africa. He also was victorious in the 2010 NBL Grand Nationals, held in September in Kentucky.

His next big challenge is the American Bicycle Association’s Grand Nationals, scheduled in November in Tulsa, Okla. If he wins there, Štrombergs will have captured the “quadruple crown” of BMX racing.