Parel Vallei High School’s cycling team took part in the Subaru Western Cape XCO mountain bike championships held at Bloemendal Wine Estate last weekend, despite the fast course with lots of climbing and technical descents, nine PV riders secured places under the top 20 cyclist in various divisions.
Of these PV riders it was Joshua de Freitas and Matthew Keyser, who outshone all others, with Joshua getting third in the championship, and Matthe won the Junior Western Cape Championship title. In a close race between Matthew, Joshua and Jarrod van de Heever (from Paarl Boys’ High). Matthew took the lead in the third lap after a strong surge on one of the climbs and held on to his lead to win.
Matthew is a Grade 12 pupil, and has aspirations to continue with his cycling career after school and to compete internationally in road and mountain bike events.
He is currently ranked number four in South Africa, and will compete at the South African Championship in July in Pietermaritzburg – and is a strong contender to take the title.
Joshua, in Grade 11, is in his first year in the junior category. He is a previous SA champion in the sub-junior category, and was the Western Province champion in the youth category in 2015. He is aiming for a top 10 position in the SA Championships in July.
Both Matthew and Joshua head up a strong cycling team from Parel Vallei High School, which will shortly be competing in the Spur High School MTB League, starting at Southey Vines on Thursday June 16.
