Madolo thrilled with World Champs inclusion

South African cyclist Sipho Madolo says being included in the South African team for the UCI Mountain Bike Marathon World Championships is a dream come true.

The competition will take place in Pietermaritzburg this Sunday, 29 June, and the 23-year-old who hails from Kayamandi, just outside Stellenbosch, says he is ready for the biggest event of his career so far.

“I am so happy to have been selected for the South African team for the World Champs,” Madolo told Sapa. “It is a dream for me.

“I like a challenge and mountain biking is that. You have to work very hard in training and the racing is just as tough.

“My selection is really big [for young black riders] and my family is very proud of me, but my selection is not just big for me, it’s big for the whole of Songo.info as well.

“The youngsters need someone they can look up to and hopefully now I can be a bit of a role model to them.”

Madolo, who started cycling with Songo.info in 2009, says his interest in the sport grew in leaps and bounds when he met current marathon world champion Christoph Sauser (Specialized Racing) in 2010.

“After I met Christoph, we then trained together in 2011,” Madolo said. “That didn’t only change things for my life in cycling, it changed my whole life.

“I told Christoph last year that I wanted to try be selected for the World Champs this year and he told me I had to work really hard.

“I never thought I’d ever end up racing with Christoph, which I did at Wine2Whales, and now I’m even going to be racing in exactly the same race as him.”

Despite his lack of experience, Madolo says he is aiming to compete at the Cascades Park instead of just making up the numbers.

“I really want to race, not just ride, the World Champs,” he added. “I want to do well, and so I have tried my best to make sure I have prepared properly over the past few months.

“Sometimes it’s even hard just to sleep because I want to get out there and go train! I’m very excited to represent South Africa.”