CONFIDENT MINNAAR AIMS FOR FIFTH WORLD CHAMPS TITLE

It’s hard to believe, but South Africa’s Greg Minnaar will be competing in his 27^th UCI Downhill World Championships this week. In an interview with TREAD Media, he revealed he’s fully prepared and has some unfinished business to settle at the Fort William course.

Words: Sean Badenhorst | Images: Sven Martin

Based on his results this year, you may have thought that Minnaar is past his best. But the 41-year-old Santa Cruz Syndicate racer thinks otherwise. He’s strong, fit and confident as he prepares his assault on a fifth World Championship title. He chatted to us from the airport on his way to Scotland on Monday.

You normally take a couple of World Cup rounds to find your groove. Do you think this season is similar to previous years in that regard?

No, I was fully ready for this season. Well, I recovered from the neck injury from late last year. I started training in January and at the end of January I had to have an operation on my thumb, near the wrist. I took about six weeks to recover from that. Physically I felt okay going into the season, although a little bit late on bike time. I did catch up though and I was really ready for the first World Cup at Lenzerheide.

At Lenzerheide and Leogang we realised there was bit of an issue with my swingarm. It was possibly too soft. We are developing a new bike and this is the downside to developing, but the engineers were really quick and got me a new swingarm. Unfortunately, it arrived a little late at Val di Sole. We fitted it for the Qualifying run and then I had the bad luck in the final. I had some bad luck at Lenzerheide with two punctures and at Leogang I rode into a tree. And then at Val di Sole I had the rain in my final run.

I did some testing straight after Val di Sole and we have sorted out the swingarm by stiffening it up. I feel like we are on a much better path now, just in time for World Champs…

Seven World Cup wins (almost a third of your total) have come at Fort William. That’s quite remarkable. What is it about Fort William that seems to favour you?

Yes, it has been good. I don’t know exactly what it is about Fort William, if it’s the way the track flows. I’m a rider that loves to generate speed and go as fast as possible, not trying to control the speed. It’s also physically quite tough and I seem to perform better on physically demanding tracks.

Do you have a good feeling going into this race in terms of bike, body and mental preparation?

The bike is spot on now. My training has been good. I trained with Stephan Gerard for a long time, since 2003 actually. I recently added Alan Milway to my training team. Stephan trained me until June and Alan took over in July to do final preparation for World’s. I feel physically very well prepared – I have stepped it up in terms of strength and fitness. My body is feeling good and I’m mentally prepared too.

The weather seems to be damp at Fort William this week. Do you prefer racing in these conditions, which appear to favour experience?

Well, we did have a spell of about five years where Fort William was dry and dusty. The last time I raced there, it started to rain when Loris Vergier and I did our final runs. Although, if it’s wet on and off through the day, it really doesn’t affect the terrain that much at Fort William. The ground holds up very well. Visibility can be impaired a bit, but generally that course stays the same. It’s better than having a bone-dry track and then suddenly it rains in the race. I think the weather will be pretty decent for the week from a racer perspective.

Based on recent form, who do you expect to be in the gold-medal hunt in the Elite Men’s DH this week?

I would say the winners of the three World Cups so far this year, Jackson (Goldstone), (Andreas) Kolb and Jordan (Williams). Laurie Greenland had an incredible ride at Fort William at the British National in the beginning of the season. You have the World Champs specialist, (Loic) Bruni. Then Finn Isles, Thibaut Diprella, Loris Vergier… The list goes on and on. That’s what’s so tough. The men’s field is so deep these days. I have probably missed one or two riders that could win. It’s a really stacked field.

There are eight other South Africans competing in the DH for South Africa this week. What advice can you offer them (and many other young gravity racers in South Africa) in terms of tackling a huge event to ensure they get to the start with a positive mindset?

Don’t over-practice. Don’t ride the track too much so that you’re tired for the final. You’ve just got to do the bare minimum in practice to know the track. It’s not necessary to push out a lot of practice runs. On race day, you need to look ahead, you need to carry speed and you need to pedal hard. Don’t arrive at the start gate tired.

Is your goal to win this world champs or have you adjusted your goal this year? Are you still really hungry for another world title?

I wouldn’t be travelling to Fort William right now if I didn’t think I could win it. That’s why I race. I race to win. I race for medals. I have trained hard and done the right preparation. I’m still really hungry for another World Champs title. The last World Champs at Fort William in 2007 didn’t really go my way. I crashed in the woods and dislocated my shoulder (later diagnosed as a broken scapula) and I finished just outside the medals in fourth. I have got a little bit of unfinished business at Fort William. Hopefully that’s the little bit that will drive me to be the best I can on the day.

Is this likely to be your final World Champs?

I don’t know exactly if this my last World Championships. It’s my 27^th World Champs and I’m still loving the racing as if it was my first. I believe I can still win a medal. I haven’t had a great start to the season, but that’s not a great reflection of the effort that’s gone in. I can’t say if it will be my last, but I can definitely say it’s a lot closer to being my last than to say I will do another five.

And that last sentence is why we really must appreciate now. A time when we are able to witness greatness in a guy that’s one of a kind. And the bonus is, he’s a fellow South African! Below is Minnaar’s World Champs record, which is quite remarkable. Twenty-six participations, four gold medals, four silver medals, three bronze medals and two generations worth of incredible moments throughout…

The Elite men’s downhill will take place on Friday, 4 August (qualifying) and Saturday, 5 August (final). It’s likely to be shown live on GCN+ and SuperSport.