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Greg Takes World Cup Lead!Following back to back wins in the UCI World Cup, Greg Minnaar finds himself in the leader's jersey for the first time since 2005, and is the only man to have won two races this season. Sporting a #4 shaved head, like the one that gave him luck here at Mont-Sainte-Anne back in 2001 when he won the overall World Cup series against Nicolas Vouilloz, Minnaar came into the race knowing he had to step it up. "I've got 2nd here so many times, and 3rds, it's time to finally crack this one". With the track oozing water from a month's rainfull, the day's sun on a Saturday final didn't do much to dry out the entire track. Some sections were wet, and others dry, making it tough to keep it together at speed on arguably the world's longest and toughest track. "I really let it hang out on this run, and in the forest you probably saw on TV, I nearly went down, thought I was going to be crawling out of that section, but overall it felt great the run". "I'm over the moon, I finally won here. Can't believe that I'm back in the leader's jersey, it feels good." Minnaar's team of Santa Cruz Syndicate had a great weekend with Steve Peat again on the podium, Josh Bryceland taking the lead in the Junior World Cup lead, and the team still leading the team classification. Next week Greg heads to Bromont for the next round, just a few hours down the road, and will hope to build on his series lead. Interview: www.mtbcut.net/topvideos2/1688437172page.html Final Results: 1) Greg Minnaar (Santa Cruz Syndicate) 4:30.57 2) Sam Hill (Monster Energy Iron Horse) 4:32.30 3) Gee Atherton (Animal Commencal) 4:32.83 4) Steve Peat (Santa Cruz Syndicate) 4:33.53 5) Fabien Barel (Subaru Mondraker) 4:37.25 6) Sam Blenkinsop (Yeti Fox Factory) 4:38.34 7) Nathan Rennie (Santa Cruz Syndicate) 4:40.12 8) Julien Camellini (Chain Reaction Intense)4:41.74 9) Justin Leov (Yeti Fox Factory) 4:42.35 10) Aaron Gwin (Yeti Fox Factory) 4:42.64 Overall Points: 1. Greg Minnaar (RSA) - 792 pts 2. Sam Hill (AUS) - 770 pts 3. Gee Atherton (GBR) - 727 pts 4. Steve Peat (GBR) - 642 pts 5. Fabien Barel (FRA) - 434 pts | |
| Posted on 2008-07-27 by |  |
Syndicates Minnaar and Bryceland 2nd In World Champs Seeding
June 19, 2008
Val Di Sole, Italy
The downhill seeding race for the UCI World
Championship Downhill took place today in Val Di Sole, Italy, under blue skies, which is typical of this region, but it didn't seem that way early in the week with light rain showers wetting the track. Racers
played it easy and some played tactics in the seeding run as all riders are qualified and no points are given, so not much was on the line. Santa Cruz Syndicate's Greg Minnaar placed second in the elite men's category and said, "I battled to find a rhythm, but it's still early now and we have training tomorrow and Saturday. I should be able to find my rhythm then and give it some stick in the final."
Josh Bryceland's injured knee didn't give him any trouble and he placed second in his seeding run in the junior category. Steve Peat celebrated his birthday this week and is still giving the field a run for their money. He ran it smart in the seeding
run cruising in for a 7th place finish with everything working well and according to plan.
Nathan Rennie, sporting a new Troy Lee Designs race kit for practice, looked like his former self as he was charging sections and riding confidently, although admittedly not every run was perfect and getting loose
and hitting tress was part of the game for most. His seeding run went to plan as he coasted down. He said, "I'm in a reasonable position going into the final. I walked the track after the seeding run and I have
some work to do. Everything is sweet."
Practice has gone well all week for the lads, yet this track is brutal exacting it's toll on the equipment. The test event here in May had the mechanics prepared
for bike carnage saying this track was the hardest on equipment of all the tracks. Syndicate wrench, Doug Hatfield explains,
"We keep smashing stuff, it's one thing or another, but we have back up parts now. It's a tough track, there's no other track quite like it. It's steep with big rocks with lots of bottoming out going on."
Cross fingers, and we'll see what Saturday brings!
Greg Dominates At Fort William World Cup
Proving that he's fully recovered from shoulder surgery over winter, South Africa's Greg Minnaar (Santa Cruz Syndicate), today dominated World Cup Round 3 on the classic Nevis Range course at Fort William.
Showing form early on Friday where he was clearly the fastest in timed practice, running a 4m 55.48secs, Minnaar was out to prove that his 4th place finish last year with a broken shoulder was one of the most underated rides of 2007. This course in Scotland suits his strength and fitness and he now becomes the first man to win two World Cups on this track.
Last night prior to the semi final Greg was determined to go for the full 250 points.
"I'm going to give it a good hard hit in the semi final and chase the 50 points. I'm not too worried about being able to recover in time for the final. We're not at altitude and we have nearly five hours to recover, and I know I've done the fitness work".
True to his word he took the win in the semi final, but it was the margin in the final which stamped his authority on the weekend. Despite a dry and blown out course, and a strong wind that was hitting the riders head on in the final motorway section, Greg put more than 3 seconds into 2nd place and last week's winner Gee Atherton (Animal Commencal), and his team mates were close behind in 3rd and 4th. World Cup leader Sam Hill finished 5th.
"I gave it my best shot. My shoulder is 100% back to normal now. I had a lot of South African mates here this weekend supporting me, and I'm stoked to have won my first World Cup since 2005. The is a special place for me. The V10 with RockShox suspension was amazing here...thanks to the team for putting it all together this week."
This was the 100th World Cup Downhill race run since 1993, and interestingly, since he started racing as a junior in 1997, Greg has been on the podium for 34 of those 100 races...of which he's started 61.
New Helmet For Greg
Check out Greg's special helmet for the World Championships here:
http://www.23degrees-sports.com/news.php?id=618
Greg Third in World Cup 2
The first triple round of the Nissan UCI World Cup Series was held in the mountain town of Valnord, Andorra where the Santa Cruz Syndicate took two of the five podium spots with Greg Minnaar scooping up third
and Steve Peat just 3/4 of a second
behind him in fourth. The big news from this event is the Atherton family each winning an event with Dan winning the 4X, Rachel winning the women's downhill and Gee winning the men's downhill, truly a history
making weekend!
Racers were treated to a continuous view of the spectacular snow capped mountains in this affluent hometown of Cedric Gracia. The venue was a gondola lift up the mountain where the event was staged,
scenic, but not convenient with the downhill finish line quite a distance from the pits, which made things challenging.
The track here is short, starting on a shale
mountainside dropping in and out of tree sections with fun berms, jumps and some soggy ground. Just a few weeks ago the top of the course was covered in 2m of snow requiring it's removal for fear of
having to cancel the race. With just light sprinkles on Saturday the weather was mostly fine.
DOWNHILL QUALIFIER:
After a heavy nights rain racers took to the sticky track this morning for the qualification race. Peat was the fastest Syndicate racer coming in fourth. After a previous days practice wrought with mechanicals Minnaar got things rolling and came eighth.
Minnaar had an average run saying "I just made crucial mistakes and I thought it would be OK. I didn't want to go too
hard to conserve some energy for the final."
DOWNHILL FINALS:
Minnaar went into the hot seat when he came across the line, but the worried expression on his face indicated he didn't think his time would hold for a win. He says, "I got to the bottom and I knew I didn't have
enough to win. At the speeds we were going in the final I came up on sections faster and hesitated a bit, and I made a couple of mistakes. I am excited that my riding is coming back. It's moving up in the right direction."
QUALIFIER RESULTS:
1 GEE ATHERTON 2:41.63
2 SAM HILL 2:43.31
3 FABIEN BAREL 2:43.44
4 STEVE PEAT (SANTA CRUZ SYNDICATE) 2:43.98
5 STEVE SMITH 2:44.98
6 NICK BEER 2:45.08
7 SAM BLENKINSOP 2:45.25
8 GREG MINNAAR (SANTA CRUZ SYNDICATE) 2:45.26
9 FABIEN PEDEMANAUD 2:45.28
10 MATTI LEHIKOINEN 2:45.39
DOWNHILL RESULTS:
1 GEE ATHERTON 2:35.35
2 SAM HILL 2:35.66
3 GREG MINNAAR (SANTA CRUZ SYNDICATE) 3:36.73
4 STEVE PEAT (SANTA CRUZ SYNDICATE) 2:37.49
5 SAM BLENKINSOP 2:38.71
6 CHRIS KOVARIK 2:39.18
7 FABIEN BAREL 2:39.21
8 FABIEN PEDEMANAUD 2:41.42
9 MATTI LEHIKOINEN 2:41.65
10 STEVE SMITH 2:42.00
Greg Qualifies 1st In Lisbon, 2nd in Final by 4 Tenths!
The ninth annual Lisbon Downtown race was held Saturday with racers taking to the infamous cobblestone streets and stairways winding down the old city from the Castello de Sao Jorge. As cats scrambled off the race track citizens watched from their laundry filled balconies to see Steve Peat, indisputably the King of Lisbon, take his 7th consecutive win with teammate Greg Minnaar in second, just 0.46secs behind him after qualifying first.
The downtown event takes place on Saturday with four scheduled practice runs, a semi-final and the final. Practice for the race had its ups and downs. Things went smooth for Greg but Peaty suffered a mechanical in his first run, and dislocated his finger in his last run.
IN the semi final Greg showed he meant business by finishing 2 seconds clear of second place Steve Peat. "My run was solid, but kind of hard because photographers step into the course and it's hard to set up for your lines. I managed to hit everything I wanted, and some sections I just rolled through really well."
IN the final, starting last, Greg set great pace but made a couple of errors, especially in the hairpin turn on the stairs when he lost momentum running wide. "The race was good today. I think Steve was lucky! I had to fake a mistake to let the old boy win! Actually, things went pretty good. I felt a bit of pressure from the old man. I made a little mistake on top and a costly mistake at the bottom, but that's racing and that's how it goes. I'm happy for Steve today, winning 7 times in a row!”
Peat says, "I’m stoked!! It's luck! I don't know why I get good luck here, but I did. After practice and qualifier I really didn't think I could win today. I knew everyone was fast, especially Greg. My qualifier was shocking. I really had to focus, but I've been in this situation before and I can deal with it. I'm really happy to take my Santa Cruz V-10 to my 7th win here!"
FINAL RESULTS:
1: Steve Peat (Santa Cruz Syndicate) 1:40.43
2: Greg Minnaar (Santa Cruz Syndicate) 1:40.89
3: Filip Polc (Kenda Tomac) 1:42.76
4: Sam Hill (Team Monster Energy Iron Horse) 1:43.38
5: Cedric Gracia (Commencal) 1:43.86
Semi Final Results:
1: Greg Minnaar (Santa Cruz Syndicate) 1:41.89
2: Steve Peat (Santa Cruz Syndicate) 1:43.74
3: Filip Polc (Kenda Tomac) 1:43.94
4: Roger Gonzalez (Spain) 1:44.01
5: Emanuel Pombo (Portugal) 1:44.10
Double Win For Greg At Sea Otter
A stunning debut into 2008 international racing for his new team, Greg wins both the Downhill and Dual Slalom at the Sea Otter Classic.
In the Dual Slalom he came up against his new team mate (and long time friend) Steve Peat in the final, and made it two from two in the final.
In the downhill, Greg said he didn't feel fast at all and was really surprised to take the win, on a windy and quite flat course.
DH Results:
1. Greg - 2m 11.21secs
2. Chris Kovarik - 2m 12.05secs
3. Justin Leov - 2m 12.10secs
4. Steve Peat - 2m 13.09secs
5. Nathan Rennie - 2m 13.48secs
Full results here:
http://www.seaotterclassic.com/raceresults/index.cfm/2008.htm
Minnaar Makes Triumphant Return
Greg Minnaar (Santa Cruz Syndicate), South Africa's most successful mountain bike racer ever, made a triumphant return to competition at the weekend after a long injury layoff to capture the National Downhill Title at the 2008 Mazda MTN South African Mountain Bike Championships.
A slightly stiff shouldered Minnaar lacked some of his usual fluidity, but was certainly not lacking any speed or class as he completed two virtually identical runs down the tricky 2.9km plunge through the forest at Cascades on the western slopes of his hometown, Pietermaritzburg.
The national championships event today was his first real taste of competition after having been back on the bike for only three weeks. The 26-year-old Minnaar underwent major surgery to repair his shoulder last October.
On his first run in wet conditions, Minnaar clocked a fast 4min 38.76secs to give him a substantial cushion over his rivals going into the second run. Only defending national champion, Andrew Neethling (Mongoose Red) was able to join Minnaar in breaking five minutes in the first round with a time of 4min 51.34secs.
Wind and sunshine ensured the course dried out substantially for the second round and Neethling's second run of 4min 41.03secs was almost 10 seconds quicker than his first, bringing him a lot closer to Minnaar's time and confirming his world-class pedigree. But Minnaar, was a model of consistency, clocking a fractionally quicker 4m 38.09secs to secure his first South African title since 2002 when he lasted contested it.
"To be honest, it was quite a relief to win today," smiled Minnaar. "I'm always expected to win in South Africa and when I'm home, I'm not super focused on racing so went into the race a bit under prepared. But it all worked out okay and my shoulder never bothered me at all, although I was a bit stiff from practising in the mud on Saturday."
Neethling's younger brother, Jonty, was significantly quicker on his second run, clocking 4m 51.51secs which was good enough to give him the bronze medal in one of the highest quality downhill fields ever assembled at a South African national championships.
Final Results:
1 Greg Minnaar (Santa Cruz Syndicate) 4m 38.09s
2 Andrew Neethling (Mongoose Red) 4m 41.03s
3 Jonty Neethling (Morewood Fox Oakley) 4m 51.51s
4 Johann Potgieter (Cannondale) 4m 55.83s
5 Wesley Augustyn (Mongoose) 5m 00.65s
6 Chris Nixon (Cannondale) 5m 03.62s
7 Travis Browning (Morewood) 5m 03.65s
8 Greg Saharin (Giant) 5m 09.12s
Text: Squire Industries
Minnaar To Race South African Nationals
Former downhill world champion Greg Minnaar (Santa Cruz Syndicate) will add some depth to the start list at the 2008 Mazda MTN South African Mountain Bike Championships, which will take place in his home town of Pietermaritzburg this Sunday.
Minnaar's first foray back into top-flight racing, following a 5 month injury-induced layoff to repair a damaged shoulder, is appropriately in his hometown, on the very same slopes that helped nurture his skills that took him to overall victory in the World Cup in 2001 and 2005 and the World Championships title in 2003.
A multiple winner of the South African championships, Minnaar has opted out of competing in the national showpiece for the past few years, but still usually appears at the event to support the competitors and do a couple of demo runs for his fans.
But this year Minnaar will officially enter the event as a test to see how his shoulder has mended following major surgery in November 2007.
"The shoulder isn't 100 percent yet, but the operation was a success as I've been riding for three weeks now and it's holding up well," said Minnaar. "I raced in the KwaZulu-Natal provincial championship two weeks ago on this same course. I'm struggling to lift the bike still, but I'm using my body weight more to compensate. I think I need to race a bit to help strengthen the muscles."
Minnaar, who is one of the top downhill racers in the world, will start as the clear favourite on Sunday, but the 26-year-old says he's far from peak form and that victory isn't a given.
"The Neethling brothers, Jonty and Andrew, will find this course suits them for sure. Others like Johan Potgieter and Gary Barnard are also likely to put in a good performance. It's going to be really interesting," said Minnaar.
Other top finishers in the 2008 Mazda MTN SA Cup Series that are sure to challenge for podium places are Greg Saharin, Wesley Augustyn and Travis Browning.
"Travis is one to watch too," said Minnaar. "He's only in his first year of racing Elite but he's quick and he'll be comfortable on his home course too."
Like the cross-country route, which will be hosted on Saturday, the downhill course has been designed to international standards in the hope of securing a round of the UCI World Cup in the near future.
"The downhill track is just over 2.9km in length," explained MTB SA's Mike Bradley. "Greg Minnaar's average speed at the provincial champs was 41kph. It's got a quick start, a longish pedalling section in the middle. There are rock drops, road jumps, wall rides, ski jumps and a frighteningly fast finish!"
Minnaar agreed with Bradley's description: "I'll say it's a fast finish! It's steep and narrow and you get up to around 75-80kph. Not for the feint hearted and great for spectators!"
New Helmet for GM
Check out Greg's new helmet for 2008 here:
http://www.23degrees-sports.com/news.php?id=603
