Philip Buys

It would not be an understatement calling Phillip Buys a veteran of the cross-country mountain biking circuit. This 33-year-old hailing from Durban has been cycling professionally for more than a decade even though he has been riding for as long as he can remember.

During his high school years, cycling was a mode of transport and a way of making a bit of pocket money delivering newspapers. However, he competed in a few races over weekends and got noticed by sponsors. The rest, as they say in the classics, is history.

Buys represented South Africa at the Olympic Games in 2012 and the Commonwealth Games in 2014, and he admits that cycling has given him the privilege of travelling the world for numerous events including World Cups and World Championships. He also cites winning a few stages of the Cape Epic, often likened as the Tour de France of mountain biking, as some of his career highlights.

Naturally, he wants to qualify for this year’s Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and has also set his sights on the Cape Epic in 2023. Considering he is riding with a Pyga MoBu frame, the first full carbon mountain bike ever produced in South Africa, Buys certainly has the best equipment for the job at hand. And with King Price at his side to help elevate mountain biking to a more mainstream sport, it will be an exciting 2022 for him.

He says that he is lucky his wife comes from a sporting background and is very supportive of his career. Juggling a family, business endeavours, cycling, and other responsibilities gives him a great platform to succeed in a variety of areas.

We look on in anticipation of what he will still accomplish in the sport and what the King Price Xtreme sponsorship will bring.