{"id":19632,"date":"2015-07-16T19:35:00","date_gmt":"2015-07-16T18:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/2015\/07\/16\/bmx-stars-gearing-up-for-worlds-in-belgium-r3073\/"},"modified":"2023-02-08T14:21:36","modified_gmt":"2023-02-08T14:21:36","slug":"bmx-stars-gearing-up-for-worlds-in-belgium-r3073","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/bmx-stars-gearing-up-for-worlds-in-belgium-r3073\/","title":{"rendered":"BMX stars gearing up for Worlds in Belgium"},"content":{"rendered":"

Some of SA\u2019s greatest BMX stars will be departing this week to represent South Africa at the 2015 UCI BMX World Championships in Heusden-Zolder, Belgium, from 21-25 July.<\/p>\n

Looking to defend his 2014 World Numbers is Giba Cycling Club\u2019s Tyrone Johns, who is currently World Number 1 in the 20\u201d Challenge Class in the Men 30+ category and World Number 2 in the Cruiser Men\u2019s 30-34 class.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will definitely be trying to defend my World Championship title. For the past few years I\u2019ve been riding on an indoor track. And I don\u2019t want to be known as an indoor track specialist,\u201d he laughed.<\/p>\n

\"ccs-62657-0-97962800-1437075120.jpg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Tyrone Johns (Giba BMX Club KZN) is looking to defend his 2014 World no.1 title this year at the 2015 UCI BMX World Championships in Heusden-Zolder, Belgium, from 21-25 July. Photo: Kevin Bender<\/span><\/p>\n

Johns suffered a crash earlier this year which set him back, but said that preparations have come right since then.<\/p>\n

Kane Herbert (Alrode BMX Club Gauteng) said that the excitement is building knowing that World Champs is just around the corner. \u201cThe nerves don’t kick in until I\u2019m there at the World Champs, but I thrive off that feeling \u2013 it\u2019s what keeps me going back every year to try and better my World Number.\u201d<\/p>\n

Herbert mentioned that World Champs has been his only major goal since the beginning of the year, and so preparations have been going strong since then. \u201cI have prepared extremely hard with my coach, Jason, at Crossfit Southern Suburbs for this event. The Nationals have been the building blocks in order to get me ready for Worlds. Without sounding too positive I am really going for the top spot this year and believe that I have done everything right in order to achieve World 1 in the 25-29 age group.\u201d<\/p>\n

Promising 16-year-old BMX rider, Manqoba Madida (Giba Cycling Club KZN), is also confident ahead of the World Champs. \u201cI feel like I am going to do well this year. I am riding strong and fast. I\u2019m very excited,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Madida left some words of wisdom for aspiring young riders: \u201cIn order to do well and reach your goals, you need to focus on the sport and tell yourself that you can make it. That can help you go forward. Just believe in what you are doing and what you want to become, then you will make it \u2013 that\u2019s what I did.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tim O\u2019Brien of the Lahee Park Club in KwaZulu-Natal is all-systems go ahead of next week\u2019s event. \u201cPreparations ahead of Worlds are going very well. With my job, my hours are pretty flexible so I am able to train twice a day.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
\n\"ccs-62657-0-16909600-1437075113.jpg\"<\/a>Kane Herbert (Alrode BMX Club Gauteng) is confident with the amount of training and preparation ahead of the 2015 UCI BMX World Championships in Heusden-Zolder, Belgium, from 21-25 July. Photo: Kevin Bender<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
\n\"ccs-62657-0-26685800-1437075115.jpg\"<\/a>Manqoba Madida (Giba BMX Club KZN) feels strong and ready ahead of the 2015 UCI BMX World Championships in Heusden-Zolder, Belgium, from 21-25 July. Photo: Kevin Bender<\/span>\n<\/div>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The Cruiser 40+ rider has always enjoyed the sport. \u201cI used to race BMX back in the 80s when I was a \u2018lightie\u2019, and then started again in 2011 when my kids could ride as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, O\u2019Brien suffered a crash, which landed him in hospital for three days after a bad knock to the head and an injured hand. \u201cA few weeks later I thought of doing Nationals, and I did and I won. It was then that I thought I\u2019d be fit enough for Worlds,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Brien felt that racing plays a small part in the world of BMX riding. \u201cIt\u2019s the training, preparation and physiotherapy that takes up the majority of the time,\u201d he laughed.<\/p>\n

Junior Elite rider, Tyler Klumper (Giba Cycling Club KZN) could not be happier as he heads off on his World Champs journey. \u201cGoing to Worlds means absolutely everything to me! Being selected to represent South Africa at such a big race is a huge honour for me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Klumper felt that the most difficult part of the BMX discipline is the commitment needed to do well in the sport. \u201cYou have to put in many hours of training and riding in order to achieve your goals. BMX becomes your life,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He also mentioned that, if he had to offer advice to any young riders in the sport hoping to achieve their BMX goals, he would say: \u201cNever give up! Everyone starts somewhere and as long as you don’t give up you will become a great rider. Also, the most important thing is to make sure that you are always having fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

The team departs on Thursday for Belgium where they will then have time to settle in and get some training in on the track before the event starts.<\/p>\n

For more information about the 2015 UCI BMX World Championships, click here: http:\/\/www.bmxzolder.be\/wkbmx\/en\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Some of SA\u2019s greatest BMX stars will be departing this week to represent South Africa at the 2015 UCI BMX World Championships in Heusden-Zolder, Belgium, from 21-25 July. Looking to defend his 2014 World Numbers is Giba Cycling Club\u2019s Tyrone Johns, who is currently World Number 1 in the 20\u201d Challenge Class in the Men […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":56638,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[3797,1978,2171,2674],"featured_location":[],"class_list":["post-19632","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-events","tag-kane-herbert","tag-manqoba-madida","tag-tyrone-johns","tag-uci-bmx-world-championships"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19632","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19632"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19632\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56638"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19632"},{"taxonomy":"featured_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/featured_location?post=19632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}