Greg Minnaar is taking aim at a fourth career world title and an 11th medal at the 2021 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Val di Sole, Italy this week. Minnaar leads a small, mostly young South African team, some of whom weren’t yet born when he did his first World Champs 24 years ago. Full preview and viewing info here.
By Sean Badenhorst
Both times the UCI World Champs have taken place at Val di Sole previously, Minnaar has finished fourth, widely regarded as the worst position to finish when you’re a professional athlete. In 2008 he crashed in practice and injured his neck, so wasn’t at his supple best for the final where he was beaten to the medals by Gee Atherton (gold), Steve Peat (silver) and Sam Hill (bronze). Then in 2016 he narrowly missed out on the medals, which were taken by Danny Hart (gold), Laurie Greenland (silver) and Florent Payet (bronze).
Greg Minnaar on his way to fourth place at the 2021 Maribor World Cup. | Photo: Bartek Wolinski/ Red Bull Content Pool
Affectionally called the Black Snake, the downhill course at Val di Sole is 23 years old and is known for its sheer gnar. Roots, rocks and ruts all feature on this course, but it is best known for its sheer steepness. At 2.4km long it drops 540 metres with an average gradient of -22% that peaks at -40%.
One of the greatest winning runs in World Cup history took place at Val di Sole in 2012 when the USA’s Aaron Gwin won by a massive margin of 7.85 seconds! Minnaar was the man he beat to the win that day. As with most of his rivals, Minnaar has outlasted Gwin, who has been beset with injury woes in the past few seasons and won’t be competing this year because he’s still recovering from injury.
It’s hard to predict who the top finishers are likely to be on Sunday, but that’s the beauty of the World Champs. One high-risk, no-error run could see any one of 10 riders claiming the coveted Rainbow Jersey. You can bet that there will be Frenchmen contesting the medals but you can also bet that the most successful male downhill racer ever will do everything he can not to finish fourth at the World Championships in Val di Sole again…
As we have remarked before, the shadow of Greg Minaaar is long and layered and for any South African making his or her way into the Downhill discipline, it’s hard to avoid that shadow. Fortunately, South Africans generally see Minnaar’s success as motivating more than intimidating and there’s a crop of talented young riders in Val di Sole that will be racing in the national kit.
Theo Erlangsen, Johann Potgieter (not so young, but with the energy of a teenager) and Cullen McMaster will contest the Elite Men’s downhill, while Martin Vermeulen will be the sole racer in the Junior Men’s event. Two women, Frankie du Toit and Beanie Thies, will contest the Elite Women’s event.
Greg Minnaar’s UCI Downhill World Championships record:
| 2020 | Leogang, Austria | 27th crashed |
| 2019 | Mont St Anne, Canada | 5th |
| 2018 | Lenzerheide, Switzerland | 8th |
| 2017 | Cairns, Australia | 61st spoke pierced rim tape, lost air |
| 2016 | Val di Sole, Italy | 4th |
| 2015 | Vallnord, Andorra | 2nd |
| 2014 | Lillehammer, Norway | 30th rear rim broke |
| 2013 | Pietermaritzburg, South Africa | 1st |
| 2012 | Leogang, Austria | 1st |
| 2011 | Champery, Switzerland | 9th crashed |
| 2010 | Mont St Anne, Canada | 3rd |
| 2009 | Canberra, Australia | 2nd |
| 2008 | Val di Sole, Italy | 4th crashed in practice, injured neck |
| 2007 | Fort William, Scotland | 4th crashed in final, broke scapula |
| 2006 | Rotorua, New Zealand | 2nd |
| 2005 | Livigno, Italy | 3rd |
| 2004 | Les Get, France | 2nd |
| 2003 | Lugano, Switzerland | 1st |
| 2002 | Kaprun, Austria | DNS crashed in practice, broke collarbone |
| 2001 | Vail, USA | 3rd broke chain & crashed at finish |
| 2000 | Sierra Nevada, Spain | 11th |
| 1999 (Junior) | Are, Sweden | 6th |
| 1998 (Junior) | Mont St Anne, Canada | 6th |
| 1997 (Junior) | Chateau-d’Ax, Switzerland | 51st |
The full 2021 World Champs racing schedule
Tuesday 24 August: Elite Men’s XCC Heats
Wednesday 25 August: 12h30 XCO Team Relay
Thursday 26 August: 11H30: XCO Junior Women | 13h30 XCO Junior Men | 17h00 XCC Elite Women | 17h45 XCC Elite Men | 21h00 4X Men & Women Qualifying
Friday 27 August: 10h30 Downhill Junior Men & Women Qualifying | 11h45 Downhill Elite Men & Women Qualifying | 15h00 eMTB XCO Women | 16h45 eMTB XCO Men | 20h45 4X Men & Women Finals
Saturday 28 August: 09h00 XCO Under-23 Women | 10h45 XCO Under-23 Men | 13h00 XCO Elite Women | 15h45 XCO Elite Men
Sunday 29 August: 09h25 Downhill Junior Men & Women Qualifying | 12h50 Downhill Elite Women | 14h10 Downhill Elite Men
Where to watch
These are the events that will be televised live.
Thursday 26 August: Elite Women XCC final – SuperSport Ch207 16h55 | Elite Men XCC final – SuperSport Ch207 17h40
Saturday 28 August: Elite Women XCO 12h55 (Channel to be confirmed) | Elite Men XCO 15h40 (Channel to be confirmed)
Sunday 29 August: Elite Women Downhill 12h45 (Channel to be confirmed) | 14h05 Elite Men Downhill (Channel to be confirmed)
Red Bull TV is also showing these events live, but is geo-blocked in South Africa.
