Ike Klaassen is a 15-year-old Dutch/South African that has been dominating the local junior DH scene and earned himself a few titles in Europe over the past few years and will definitely be a name to keep an eye out for in future.
Ike lives in Stellenbosch, a small town just outside of Cape Town. There are miles of trails between the mountains and is one of South Africa’s cycling hotspots, so there is no shortage of trails to have fun and train on.
Locally he has earned himself multiple WP Championships and is the current SA U17 DH Champion and the Cup Series Champ for both last year! Not only has he been dominating in SA, his European accolades are quite substantial already. With a few IXS U13 titles under his belt and the U13 IXS Junior World Champ 2014/15 and he also managed to grab the King of Crankworx U13.
Not only is Ike surrounded by amazing trails on neighbouring mountains, they have started their own bike park on the farm he lives on. Hellsend Dirt Compound is any riders dream. DH tracks, a nice long flow trail, dirt jumps from beginner table tops to advanced doubles. This means he has the ideal training ground literally on his doorstep and the best part of it is he’s on it every day and still more stoked than anyone to get out and shred!
If that wasn’t enough to get this young sender stoked, the DarkFEST crew descends on his farm in January, so he can hang out with the big guys and get tips and has even hit the giant step up the past 2 years, which is incredible for such a young rider!
Ike really has his eyes on the prize and is a force to be reckoned with, we look forward to join him on his journey. He has just left to start the season in Europe and can’t wait to see what he has up his sleeve this year!
