South African mountain bike racing star, Greg Minnaar, sustained serious injury in a crash at the final round of the 2022 UCI Mercedes Benz Mountain Bike World Cup at Val di Sole, Italy on Saturday.
By Sean Badenhorst
After struggling a little with his rhythm and finishing 23rd in Qualifying on Friday, Minnaar was declared a non-starter when Saturday afternoon’s final got underway. The four-time World Champion crashed in practice on Saturday morning and was airlifted to hospital, raising concerns about the extent of his injuries.
“It was quite a horrible crash. I didn’t really get knocked out, but when I got up I could feel something wasn’t right. My biggest fear is getting hoisted up in a basket to a helicopter (because I’m scared of heights), so I got back on and rode down slowly, trying to brace my head and shoulders so they wouldn’t move. But when I got back to the pits I knew something was up. I ended having to get heli-vacced out anyway,” explained Minnaar on Sunday night.
“I had some follow-up scans today (Sunday). I have four fractures in three vertebrae, but all seems stable and the healing should be straight forward. It should be a good couple of months of rehab but I should be able to make a 100% recovery.” he added.
Early on Sunday, a day after his fall, Minnaar posted on his Instagram account that he had sustained three fractured vertebrae and will require at least three months of recovery.
The Santa Cruz Syndicate rider accompanied the post with a video of the crash as captured by a videographer on the course. It shows Minnnar losing control of the bike on a fast, steep, rocky section. He hit the ground head first and mostly on his left side and flopped around like a rag doll, almost striking the videographer.
Despite not starting the final, the 40-year-old South African finished the 2022 World Cup Series in 10th place. He was in the top 10 four times in 2022 with third place at Lenzerheide his best result of the year. Minnaar won the World Cup Series overall in 2001, 2005 and 2008.
Minnaar made his first World Cup appearance at the age of 16 in 1997. He has since become the most successful World Cup racer in history, with a total of 23 World Cup wins.
Photo: Greg Minnaar on his way to third at the UCI World Cup at Lenzerheide in July 2022. | Photo: Bartek Wolinski/ Red Bull Content Pool
