The competition promises to be stiff and Nhlapo, who is preparing for the World BMX Championships in Pietermaritzburg later this month, faces a strong field which includes all three medallists from the Beijing Olympics - Latvia's Maris Stombergs, Mike Day and Donny Robinson of the US.
Nhlapo and former World Cup champion Robinson are both returning from injury.
The South African suffered a horrific crash in 2009 which left him out of action for about six months with a serious neck injury.
He is slowly returning to form and two weeks ago in the Mid West Nationals in Illinois he showed he was close to his best.
In the first day's action, after winning four heats to reach the finals, Nhlapo's foot slipped out of his cleat in the final and he ended seventh. The next day he was once again impressive, winning his first two motos and his semifinal to set up a place in the main final, where a bit of bumping and jostling saw the South African place fifth.
Robinson will be in action this weekend for the first time since recovering from a double injury.
The 2009 world champion crashed at this season's first World Cup event in Madrid in April which resulted in a collapsed lung. He crashed again in his first training session back on the bike and his lung collapsed again.
The UCI BMX World Championships will be held at the Royal Showgrounds in Pietermaritzburg from July 29 to August 1.
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