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Roof Of AfricaAn update in Greg's ride in Lesotho at the legendary Enduro event called the Roof Of Africa. Out of 300 starters, only 42 finished, and one of them was GM! He finished 19th Overall and 5th in the 200cc class and had this to say after he crossed the line: "I can hardly move! My fingers feel like they're the size of hotdogs and I have blisters everywhere. I'm pretty stoked, but next year I'll use my GPS a couple time before the race! The track is marked, but very poorly, so you really need the GPS and each day I got lost but on day 2 I was lost for more then 45 mins. But the good things is that I managed to finish the 'Roof'! Check out event info here: http://www.roof-of-africa.com/ In other news, Greg has re-signed his personal deal with Gamut Chain Devices, and has also confirmed a new 2 year deal with Alpinestars as his clothing and body protection sponsor. Look out for their new MTB line on sale in 2009. | |
| Posted on 2008-11-26 by |  |
Greg Wins Jeep 48Straight Dual Slalom
To call the 2008 mountain bike season of newly anointed World Cup Champion Greg Minnaar successful would be a tremendous understatement. Today Greg added yet another exclamation point to his racing dominance by capturing a title at the second leg of the Jeep 48STRAIGHT Mountain Bike Series held at The Canyons in Park City, Utah, USA.
Despite facing one of the deepest fields in Jeep mountain bike history and intermittent rain showers that impacted the surface of the racecourse, South Africa's Minnaar swept the competition without losing a heat, a feat all but unheard of since the event’s inception.
Minnaar, with three World Cup Championships and a World Championship under his belt by age 26, began the day with a win over Open Qualifier Cameron McCaul of Santa Cruz, California. Waiting in the second round was team mate Steve Peat, himself a three-time World Cup Champion, thus demonstrating the level of competition battling for the title. Minnaar swept past his good friend and rival to reach the semi-finals against Colorado's Petr Hanak, where he won in straight races to reach the finals.
In the championship heat, Minnaar faced off against World Champion and three-time World Cup race winner Eric Carter of Temecula, California. In the finals, Minnaar outran the veteran Carter in both runs to earn the title. Hanak topped Warren in the consolation heat to earn the final podium spot.
Greg - "This year I have had great success in dual slalom competitions, having already won two of them," said Minnaar. "I really wanted to win this one, and I pushed hard. When you add up the three World Cup race wins and the overall World Cup Titlep, plus three dual slalom wins, this has been a solid year for sure."
The prize purse for Jeep 48STRAIGHT tops $100,000 with additional bonuses from sponsor Paul Mitchell. Greg took home a cool $5,000 for the win, with cash earnings for each finisher through to 16th place. Points are awarded during each race, and the overall series champion will receive the keys to a new Jeep Grand Cherokee.
Each event of the Jeep 48STRAIGHT summer season receives national broadcast coverage on CBS Sports, representing the most visibility of any mountain biking event in the sport in the US. The event at The Canyons will air on CBS Sports on Oct. 12.
Report: Courtesy of Jeep 48STRAIGHT
Greg's run in Schladming
3 Time World Cup Champion
Saturday saw the realisation of goal that behind it had a lot of hard work, especially in the off season, and that goal was to reclaim the World Cup title that injury and bad luck have prevented Greg from defending for the past 2 years.
The newly crowned 2008 World Cup Champion can now add that to his World Cup overall titles of 2001 and 2005, and join Peaty as the only men to have won the series 3 times. Nico Vouilloz is ahead of them with 5 series wins.
Greg came into the season after evaluating all the tracks in advance and knew he had to have at least 100 points in hand before arriving at the finals in Schladming. His previous two races there have been top 5 results, but with a dodgy shoulder in 2007, and a deeply bruised calf muscle, that had no power, back in 2006. This year he was 100% fit but still had the pressure of getting the job done, with rain and other factors beyond his control.
There were some nervous moments just after the semi final got started when Greg was sure his time was not good enough for the top 4 place he needed. But after Sam came down with a time that was not as fast as expected, and three other riders went faster than him, Greg was happy to only concede 5 points to Sam, which was less than planned. It was thought he would lose up to 20.
This meant that the shift of pressure had moved much more to Sam's side for the final, as Greg had an 111 point advantage and only needed a top 7 result. He also knew that if any of those 3 riders, Gee Atherton, Sam Blenkinsop or Brendan Fairclough, went ahead of Sam as they did in a race-like semi, Greg only needed top 12.
More importantly, he knew that if he took the hotseat as he crossed the line, mathematically he had it. Despite doing that, Greg refrained from season end celebrations until all the guys had come in.
Greg - "It's such a relief you know, because you come here with the leader's jersey on your back, so it's almost yours, and you know that so much can happen in this sport that could take it away. Even though I knew I had it when I crossed the line and only 5 guys were left to come down, I still couldn't quite believe it. After last year where the shoulder was a major problem for me, and in Brazil where some sharp object sliced my tyre open on track in the final, after getting the fastest split and knowing I could have won the series that year, this is a great feeling. I have a great team and the support from home in SA has been amazing".
There's only three basic ways to win the World Cup title; before the finals in convincing fashion, from behind at the last round, and from the front at the last round. Greg has now done all three. Even more sweet is that he knows his next World Cup race will be in his home town of Pietermartizburg next April, where he will proudly wear the number 1 plate and hope to start off the 2009 season with a win.
Greg thanks all of his 2008 sponsors: Santa Cruz Syndicate and all of its team sponsors, plus his individual sponsors Oakley, OGK Helmets, Gamut USA chainguides, and Crank Brothers pedals.
Greg Looking To Schladming
With the Nissan UCI World Cup finals just 8 days away, the current series leader Greg Minnaar (Santa Cruz Syndicate) of South Africa, is keen to get on track and start the race week.
The leader's jersey has gone back and forth between himself and the 2007 World Cup Champion Sam Hill (Monster Energy) all season, but after his third win in Canberra last weekend, Minnaar has taken a 116 point advantage going into the finals.
Greg: "I would of liked more points, but I can't be ungrateful with the 116 lead I have. I know Sam is going to be strong in Schladming, his track record proves it. All I can do is go out and give it my all."
Top 5 will sew it up for Minnaar, and with previous results in Schladming all being top 5, the odds are in his favour, but in downhill racing at this level, you can't afford to take it easy.
Greg: "My results there have come from pushing it, so it will be business as usual for me next week. I'm not going to be thinking about the point calculations until after I cross the line in the final. It's great for the fans and media that it's so close, even with Gee in 3rd, but it's pretty tough on us!"
Minnaar's most recent win was of course in Canberra, the track to be used for the World Championships in 2009. With a win of more than 4.5secs over his nearest rival, teammate Nathan Rennie (AUS), he's the obvious lead out favourite for next year.
Greg: "You know they don't really have much of a mountain to work with, but they've been really creative and made a DH course out of not much. There is about 30-45 seconds of flat pedaling to the finish line which is not much fun riding, especially with the rain we had, but the track up to that point is a load of fun."
This season has been a mini-comeback for the 26 year old. After shoulder injuries plagued his 2007 season, and a freak cut tire/puncture in Brazil ended his 2006 World Cup series chase, he's back where he belongs, and happy with his new ride and sponsors.
Greg: "I'll be aiming to win of course in Schladming, but not just for me, for those that have really helped me this season. I have a great team and some really loyal sponsors, it means a lot".
He'll also be aiming to keep up his World Cup podium record. He's the only rider to finish top 5 all DH World Cups this year, as well as Worlds, and so far has had 35 World Cup podiums since he started racing professionally in 2000. Consistency is king in World Cup racing.
Greg's winning run in Canberra
Greg Wins In Canberra - Takes Series Lead!
Santa Cruz Syndicate's Greg Minnaar and Nathan Rennie top the podium in Canberra, Australia to the cheers of thousands of enthusiastic Aussie fans and Minnaar regains his lead in the UCI World Cup Downhill Series.
It was an action packed day for the Syndicate as Minnaar, Peat and Rennie swept the semi-finals in number 1,2,3 positionsSanta Cruz Syndicate’s Greg Minnaar and Nathan Rennie top the podium in Canberra, Australia to the cheers of thousands of enthusiastic Aussie fans and Minnaar regains his lead in the UCI World Cup Downhill Series.
It was an action packed day for the Syndicate as Minnaar, Peat and Rennie swept the semi-finals in number 1,2,3 positions, and the final was nearly the same but for a gust of wind blew Peat as he jumped into the finish stretch causing him to loose his speed and he placed 7th on this blustery, stormy day.
During practice Greg had this to say:
"There's not much of a hill, but they did a good job of building a downhill on what they've got. There are flat bits down at the bottom so there is no way to avoid them, but to hit it straight through will be hard on the legs. It's hard in practice. There's a lot of pedaling and the air is really dry and dusty so it's hard on the lungs. I think tomorrow it's going to be important to hammer the top and hammer the bottom. It's going to be hard and tiring, but it's going to have to be done by just pedalling as fast as you can at the bottom."
SEMI FINAL:
After raining all night the riders took to the track for practice and thought the rain had improved the track. With the sun breaking through the clouds the weather forecast said the rain would end at 10:00 am, but just the opposite happened at 11:20, 10 minutes before the men's semi-final the rain started drenching the track and the riders. It made the last pedaling section miserable as the guys slogged to the finish line. It was a Syndicate sweep of the top three positions with Minnaar taking top honors and maximum qualifier points for his efforts. Peaty came second with a 2:47.96 just .32 behind Minnaar's 2:27.64, and rounding out the top three was Rennie with a 2:49.48.
Greg says his run didn't start off very well and he found himself off near the tape in some soft mucky sections, but once he got back on line he got back up to speed. He said it killed his legs a bit. He carried on to the finish and lost his speed at the bottom jump, then looked at the finish line and tried to get there as quick as he could pedalling in a massive gear.
Minnaar was Magic today on this track winning both the semi-final and finals and taking over the series lead which was the goal coming into this event. Minnaar says of his win.
"I knew I made a lot of mistakes in the semi so I knew I could improve my time. What I tried to do is just save my legs for the bottom and I had a clear line to the bottom and I just got hard on the legs and went as hard as I could for the win, clean and simple!”
Semi Final Results:
1) Greg Minnaar (Santa Cruz Syndicate) 2:47.64
2) Steve Peat 2:47.96
3) Nathan Rennie 2:49.48
4) Fabien Barel 2:49.85
5) Filip Polc 2:50.28
6) Gee Atherton 2:50.83
7) Sam Blenkinsop (Yeti/Fox) 2:51.17
8) Sam Hill 2:52.18
9) Dan Atherton 2:53.15
10) Bryn Atkinson 2:53.69
Downhill Final Results:
1) Greg Minnaar (Santa Cruz Syndicate) 2:41.34
2) Nathan Rennie 2:46.02
3) Gee Atherton 2:47.00
4) Fabien Barel 2:47.64
5) Chris Kovarik 2:48.38
6) Andrew Neethling 2:48.67
7) Steve Peat 2:48.78
8) Jared Rando 2:49.19
9) Bryn Atkinson 2:49.39
10) Sam Blenkinsop (Yeti/Fox) 2:50.01
Text: Santa Cruz Syndicate
Video: http://freecaster.tv/1000006_1005474
Greg wins Giant Slalom
Greg beat out Brian Lopes in the finals to win the Giant Slalom at Crankworx .. check out the vid of gated racing action ...
Greg Wins The GIANT Slalom At Kokanee Crankworx 2008
The GIANT Slalom took center stage on day 7 of the Kokanee Crankworx 2008. With a list of world class riders charging for the finish line two-at-a-time, spectators on site and watching via webcast on Crankworx.com and Go211.com witnessed big crashes and big finishes in the high speed, head-to-head race event.
The GIANT Slalom weaved its way through the Boneyard Slopestyle course in the Whistler Mountain Bike Park with two riders going head-to-head over jumps and through berms into the finish corral in the village. Each rider had two runs with combined times counting for the qualifying rounds and seeding.
Reigning champ Brian Lopes crashed hard in the final race leaving him in second place overall. First place winner Greg Minnaar stopped on course to check on Lopes before riding down to claim first place in what could quite possibly go down as the most exciting final in Kokanee Crankworx history.
With Greg and Brian finishing first and second respectively, Gee Atherton took third and Guido Tschugg fourth in the Pro Men category.
"The race was close in the first round", said Greg. "It's a tiring race and we were both giving it our all. It's good to win."
For more event results and live webcasts of the Monster Energy Slopestyle, VW Trick Showdown and the Giant Slalom check out www.Crankworx.com and www.G0211.com
Greg's 2nd place run @ Bromont World Cup
