SUPPORT TE AM
7
PYGA EURO STEEL
2019
Age: 30
Epics completed: 7
Stage wins: 3
BEST RESULT
5th (2014, 2015)
4 x XCO African
Continental
champion
PYGA EURO STEEL 2
2019
280-2
PHIL BUYS
29
280-2
MATTHYS
BEUKES
PHILLIMON
SEBONA
Age: 31
Epics completed: 5
Stage wins: 2 Age: 27
Epics completed: 6
Stage wins: 0
BEST RESULT
5th (2015)
2018 Cape Pioneer
Trek winner BEST RESULT
25th (2018)
2017 Magalies Monster
MTB Classic winner
PIETER DU TOIT
Age: 19
Epics completed: 1
Stage wins: 0
BEST RESULT
25th (2018)
2nd 2017 XCO Junior
African Continental
Championships
5 MINUTES WITH PHIL B
T
he tried and tested all-South African team is back
with a bang. Buys will want to forget the painful
memory of missing 2018 due to illness; while
Beukes keeps the pairing buoyant with the momentum of
back-to-back Absa African Jersey wins. This adds them
to a short list of favourites when it comes to predicting a
category winner, and we shouldn’t discount a possible top
fi ve on overall GC. With their experience (Buys raced with
Schurter in 2014), there’s no reason why they shouldn’t.
They have won stages before, in do-or-die mode, but with
the stakes as they are, they may play it safe and aim for
a high placing at the end of the week. The Absa African
Jersey is worth too much to them to risk blowing up.
They have the pace to stay up at the front with the best
and are underwritten by their support team, consisting of
Phillimon Sebona and Pieter du Toit (who rode together to
a creditable 25th place in 2018). Sebona is one of the great
success stories of the Exxaro Mountain Biking Academy
and the Exxaro Jersey. With the home crowd behind these
four all the way, they have a little extra morale boost to
carry them high up the leader board again.
You have 12 Epic
fi nishes, fi ve stage wins
between you and back-
to-back African Jerseys.
Presumably you’re
aiming for a spot on the
GC podium this year,
or is the African Jersey
worth taking less risks to
protect? Has the African
Jersey meant a lot to your
sponsors? And what are
your relative strengths
vs Arno and Gert? A spot
on the GC podium has
been the goal for the past
few years and we will
race more aggressively to
achieve this. The African
Jersey will be plan B if
we realise the GC podium
is too far out of reach.
I think our whole team’s
experience counts for a
lot. Many of us have been
working together for a
bunch of years now and
it’s a really comfortable
environment to be in
while taking on an event
such as Epic. Arno and
Gert have also been part
of this set-up for a while,
so I think we know a bit
about each other’s strong
and weak points.
Are we seeing enough
young local talent coming
through to potentially
aim for the overall win,
even if they need to
partner overseas riders?
I do think that there is
plentiful talent coming
through, and defi nitely
potential for the overall
win at Epic. What we
could use are more local
team structures that can
off er the sustainable
platform for this talent to
make riding their full-time
endeavour. At Epic you
are racing against riders
that are full-time pros and
it will be diffi cult, but not
impossible, to beat them if
you are a part-time pro.
Do you guys see
stage racing growing
globally and what are
your international race
aspirations? For me, it
feels like South Africa is
at the forefront of stage
racing. World marathon
champs is the big
international priority race
for me. I do still love XCO
racing and I will race it
whenever I can.
The Untamed African MTB Race | MTB | 53