Rider profile
Ben Van der Steen ned-57

You can't make a profit on the PWA Slalom Series unless you make the cut for an event's top-8. So how has someone who 'didn't really get how contests worked' at first make a push for the top-10 overall? Brian McDowell meets a Dutchman with his most flying start to a season yet.

31-yr old Ben Van Der Steen's been on the PWA tour since 1999 and is proving to be a genuine podium threat to the cutthroat World Cup Slalom scene. He's also a total speed fiend and, coming from a land of record-breaking run addicts, is Holland's runner-up to countryman Jacques Van Der Hout - the current 2011 World GPS rankings leader. Big Ben's also won a PWA wave event in Israel, so despite being a 99-kilo racing machine, he can hold his own on the surf scene too.
Pics: JC/PWA