Hennie van Wyk, who is still at school in Pretoria, won the junior men’s title at the Swadini Youth Festival in Mpumalanga today.
The four-day event comprised a mountain-bike and a road race, a hill climb, an individual time-trial and a criterium. The riders earned points based on their positions in each event.
Van Wyk won four of the five disciplines and accumulated 21 points. Tiaan van Pletzen was second on 12 points and Morne Soule, 11, third.
Hennie van Wyk, who is still at school in Pretoria, won the junior men’s title at the Swadini Youth Festival today. Photo: Philip Beckman
Van Wyk lost out only in the fifth race, the criterium, in which he came fifth.
“It was a privilege to participate,” Van Wyk told In the Bunch today. “It was great winning against so many upcoming and talented riders.”
He had enjoyed the hill climb most, Van Wyk said. “I am predominantly a mountain-biker, but climbing is my strength.
“Most of the disciplines were fairly new to me, so I didn’t know what to expect or how to prepare for each event.
“But I enjoyed the festival as a whole. It was very well-organised and it had a nice and relaxed atmosphere.”
Being somewhat unfamiliar with road racing, Van Wyk, who rides for Absolute Motion, said he was simply outsprinted in the last 50 metres of the criterium.
“I’m rather new to road cycling and I did not know all the riders and what they were capable of. There was no climbing in the criterium, so I could not use any of my strengths.”
He praised Given Mthembu, “an excellent sprinter,” who won the criterium.
Van Wyk is in Grade 11 at Hoërskool Garsfontein in Pretoria and is coached by Johann Wykerd of Absolute Motion. “As a junior I still have a lot to learn,” he said.
