Former Affie is aiming for victory at Cape Epic
Phillip Buys, former pupil of Afrikaans Seuns Hoërskool in Pretoria, is a strong candidate to win this year's Cape Epic mountain bike race with teammate, Matthys Beukes.
If mountain biking were horse racing the names of Buys and Beukes would be whispered loudest amongst bookies at the start of the 12th Absa Cape Epic on 15 March.
They are senior riders of the SCOTT Factory Racing Team powered by Lead Crystal Batteries. The four-member racing squad has visions of racing for a spot on the podium at this year’s Absa Cape Epic using some of the most sophisticated mountain bikes on the market. This is a realistic vision, as former Affie pupil Philip Buys is South Africa’s top-ranked cross-country mountain biker and an accomplished marathon racer.
Buys has already made it clear that next year’s Rio Olympics will be churning through his mind as he and Matthys Beukes do battle with 1 200 of the best international and local riders in the world’s most competitive and most televised mountain bike stage race. The demanding eight-day endurance race starts at the University of Cape Town and riders will cover 739km with a total ascent of 16 000 meters before the finish at Meerendal Wine Estate.
“Phillip Buys and Matthys Beukes have proven themselves by winning the Cape Epic African Jersey in 2013,” said their trainer, Jeroen Swart, at the launch of the team last week.
“Now they have repartnered for an assault on the overall podium of this year’s race. The extra two years’ experience should help.”
For Buys – who is ranked 33rd in the world – it will also be a step towards the Olympics. “The Epic is my first big goal for the season, because there is a huge amount of international cycling association ranking points at stake. If Matthys and I win a stage or two and manage to finish in the top three overall, it will certainly mean a lot to me and for South Africa if I qualify for Rio,” he said.
His partner Beukes said they race well as a team. “We come from an XC background, so we are both technically proficient. We ride smoothly over the rough stuff, which decreases the risk of mechanical drama.”
Gert Heyns and Arno du Toit will be riding as backup team for Buys and Beukes at the Epic this year. Support from the high performance centre of the University of Pretoria is another important factor. “They have been providing guidance by means of scientific measurement and analysis, which I needed to correct my tendency for overtraining,” explained Buys.
