Thursday 24 June 2009
South African BMX star Sifiso “Skizo” Nhlapo gave the world’s best a serious run for their money at the recent US Nationals in the Mid West of the USA.
In the land of big cars and huge hamburgers, Sifiso Nhlapo showed massive potential by beating Olympic champ Maris Stromberg on his way to the finals at this years US Nationals in the Mid West.
Nhlapo found his form at the US Nationals competition, winning four heats against the world’s best BMX racers, and reaching the finals to prove that he has what it takes to go all the way to the top in this extremely competitive and physically demanding sport.
“The track was fun with a flat start gate, it kinda has an uphill first straight - just the way I like it!” said Nhlapo after the first day of racing.
Unfortunately luck was not on his side in the first final, where he lost his cleat binding to finish seventh, leaving him to watch the pack speed away, “In the main final I blew a pedal and watched the rest of the field pull away into the first turn. The field was really deep and the racing was hard but I’m looking forward to staying cleated the whole way on the final day.”
It was however a double-shot of bitter bad luck for Nhlapo, when in the last final he locked elbows with Texan Jason Rogers, which caused him to loose momentum and effectively ruined his chances of a top three finish.
“I bombed my gate and bumped elbows straight out the gate with Rogers and lost some momentum,” said Nhlapo. “I kept pushing and managed to finish fifth. Overall I felt good and got some good fast laps.”
“But I came here to race against the hotties before Worlds in South Africa in a few weeks time and that’s fulfilling my trip exactly,” he added. “My next race is in South Park, Pittsburgh, where the track looks pretty fast and a good one to race on. I’m looking forward to an even better performance there.”
With the UCI World BMX Championships being held in Pietermaritzburg in just five weeks, Nhlapo’s recent performance has shaken up the BMX world and given his hometown supporters something to get very excited about. Good luck Skizo!
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