Luc is Nelspruit’s next Burry Stander

Luc is born and bred in South Africa, but his parents are originally from Holland. They moved here 15 years ago and have no plans of returning. “His first race was the Spur Series at the age of seven in 2010. Two weeks prior to the race, I pushed him up the hill. But at the starting line he took off like a rocket and ended fourth,” said his dad Martin.
After that race, he got hooked and started off in the sub nippers category. “I moved up to the nippers in 2011 aged from eight to ten. I then raced against older cyclists and managed to collect enough points to end in third place overall, also in the Spur Series. Next year I will move up to the sprogs category where I expect to
beat my biggest opponent, Jean van der Merwe. He is probably one of Mpumalanga’s best cyclists,” said Luc.
He has a low barrier of fear and enjoys it. Cyclists say “this is a very difficult track” and Luc will say “ah! this is so cool!” He enjoyed the Hayterdale track a lot as it had a cork screw. “The parents of the younger cyclists complained about the field, but South Africa National Championships said, well if you want to be a champion, then you have to get out there and get dangerous,” Martin said.
“My favorite track is a single trail downhill with lots of roots and rocks. I would love to do something like the Cape Epic. The Cape Argus is very boring as one just sees people and tar road. My next aim is to complete the Spur Series this year and hopefully get on the podium next year.”
Luc’s bike weighs 9.8kg to make him go faster. His dad bought parts from Cape Town and everything is carbon fiber to suite Luc best. Riders like Burray Stander and Kevin Evans inspires Luc to train even harder to become better in what he loves most.