Local Paul Roos Mountain Biker Philip van Schalkwyk won the MTB Downhill for Junior Men (u-18) at the weekend, claiming the number one spot in the 2022 SA Cup DHI Series. He was also the overall winner of the event.
Adding to this achievement has been his selection for the SA DHI team scheduled to compete in the World Championships from 24 to 28 August at Les Gets, France.
“I am very excited and proud of myself,” Van Schalkwyk says. “This SA DHI Cup Number 4 race win helped me gather enough points for the series to secure a spot in the team representing South Africa at the World Downhill Championships in Les Gets, France.”
He says he gained much needed confidence going into the race when he received a new downhill bike while preparing for the final 2022 SA DHI Cup race and in training it felt super-fast. “Downhill mountain biking is a very unpredictable sport and even the smallest of mistakes can cost you a win, but this time, luck was on my side.”
Asked about the weather and the condition of the track Van Schalkwyk said the track had not receive any rain the week prior the race. “Unlike the scenario with the SA DHI Champs on the same track, on race day the track was super blown out and dusty, which played to my advantage, since here in Stellenbosch our trails are mostly dry and dusty at competition time.”
He said he doesn’t have a strict scheduled training programme yet. “My result is an ongoing effort of me committing maximum free time to just riding my bike as much as possible. For this last race, I trained on local downhill tracks with the new bike, which sharpened my skills and mentally prepared me, which in the end worked out for me.
“During my qualifying run I had good pace, as I was conserving my energy for the final race run, but still managed to record four minutes and 27 seconds, resulting in second overall qualifying time. During the final race run I made a few minor errors near the start, top of the hill, but managed to shave down an amazing five seconds from my qualifying run, enough to secure the overall race win!” Van Schalkwyk added he is super excited to win the 2022 SA DHI Cup Series – Junior Men too. “Well done to everyone who raced Sunday 10 July at Cascades, it was a super difficult track.”
