Greg Minnaar (Norco Race Division) left the start hut for the last time in Mont-Sainte-Anne, calling time on a downhill career that stretches back 27 seasons. An ever-present on the UCI World Cup circuit since the end of the last millennium, Minnaar has won everything there is to in the sport, earning him the title of the Greatest Of All Time. From his breakthrough race to his final season, here are some highlights from Minnaar’s monumental career.
Titanic. Men in Black. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. The year 1997 was a big year for popular culture, but in Stellenbosch, South Africa, a then-unknown 16-year-old was given permission to compete at his local UCI Downhill World Cup.
Finishing 57th out of a field of 70 riders, not many are likely to remember Greg Minnaar’s professional downhill debut. But that first race run would spark a career that would burn bright until the very last round of the 2024 WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series in Mont-Sainte-Anne, Quebec (Canada), 27 years later.
In between, the nearly 43-year-old South African has won everything there is to in the sport – three overall titles (2001, 2005 and 2008), four UCI Downhill World Championships (2003, 2012, 2013 and 2021), and a record 22 UCI World Cups and 86 podiums from 167 starts.
Here, we look back at the highs of a career with the success and longevity that we’re unlikely to ever see again…
BREAKTHROUGH
After his UCI World Cup debut in May 1997, Minnaar would make a handful of UCI World Cup and UCI World Championship appearances before completing his first full season in 1999. His first top-10 finish came in the same season at Big Bear Lake, California (USA), while his first podium followed the next year in Vail, Colorado, where he piloted his Animal Orange downhill rig to fifth place, sharing the podium with pioneering icons Steve Peat and Nicolas Vouilloz.
Minnaar wouldn’t have to wait long for his first win – Kaprun, Austria’s 2001 UCI World Cup the start of a record 22 victories – while his form in 2001, where he only finished outside the top 10 once was enough to secure him his first UCI World Cup overall series.
RAINBOW REGULAR
The up-and-coming South African was cementing himself as a regular on the UCI World Cup podiums, but he’d yet to taste success at the UCI World Championships. He was 2.6 seconds off the top spot in 2001 in Vail, Colorado, securing bronze in the process, but would have to wait another couple of years to end Vouilloz’ stranglehold on the rainbow jersey. Only Mickael Pascal (France) could get within one second of Minnaar, who was crowned 2003 UCI Downhill World Champion for the first time in Lugano, Switzerland.
His victory would kickstart a relationship with the rainbow jersey race that few have emulated since. Minnaar would win again in 2012, 2013 and 2021 – highlighting his longevity by claiming a UCI World Championship in three different decades – but even if he didn’t finish on the top spot, there was a good chance he’d be in the top three; Minnaar also having four silver medals and three bronzes in his collection.
RED HOT RUN
Although Minnaar wouldn’t win another overall series after 2008, there was a period between August 2009 and June 2011 when he didn’t finish outside of the top three once, picking up wins in Bromont, Quebec, Maribor, Leogang and Fort William along the way. Amazingly, his two wins, three seconds, and third in 2010’s six UCI World Cup rounds weren’t enough for the overall – Gee Atherton pipping Minnaar to the title by 44 points – 0.37 seconds the difference in the final round in Windham, New York, and ultimately the whole season, with Atherton finishing first to Minnaar’s second.
MR FORT WILLIAM
Of his 22 UCI World Cup wins, one venue has been a firm favourite of Minnaar over the years – Scotland’s Fort William. In 18 UCI World Cup round starts at the Nevis Range location, he has come away victorious a staggering seven times, earning him legendary status in the hills of the Scottish Highlands.
He is so at home on the iconic course that he’s only finished outside the top 10 twice – once on his debut, and again in the 2024 season opener where he crashed twice, separating his shoulder, but still rolled over the line rather than DNFing.
FINAL FAREWELL
Minnaar had dreamed of ending on an all-time high by winning the 2023 UCI Downhill World Championships in Fort William, but it wasn’t to be – as documented in the Eurosport documentary ‘Not Done Yet’.
Instead, he settled in for another season of racing as part of a new team – Norco Racing Division. The 2024 season wasn’t just about making up the numbers though, and the legend showed that he’s still got what it takes to compete at the pinnacle of the sport. After recovering from his injury at the first round of the season in Fort William, Minnaar made it to finals in Val di Sole, Trentino (Italy), Les Gets - Haute-Savoie, Loudenvielle – Peyragudes (both in France) and Mont-Sainte-Anne, finishing inside the top 20 three times and adding a final podium to his collection with third in Les Gets.
Speaking after his last race run in Mont-Sainte-Anne, Greg Minnaar said: “I couldn’t be more thankful for the crowd coming out today. It’s not the best weather but they supported me the whole way down. I stalled up in the first corner and tried to work hard to catch a rhythm back up, but it was a little bit greasier than I thought. The crowd was going nuts and as I lost my footing in the ruts I could just hear my name being chanted.
“I just wanted to relax, focus on being smooth and try and be young again. It’s always easier to do it in your mind than do it in the physical. I’m disappointed with my race but considering all the pressure, I’m really chuffed.
“Mont-Sainte-Anne has been a big part [of my career]. I came her as a junior for the UCI World Championships in 98. The only time I haven’t been back is the two years through covid when they didn’t have the event. I feel very at home here. I love coming back here. I’ll be back next year – I just won’t be one of the jockeys.
“Everything has changed so much. The equipment has changed massively. It allows us to go a lot faster, so the tracks become somewhat less technical, but the bikes are handling the terrain better. The tracks have got a lot faster. We can handle a lot more, we train a harder, we’re physically and mentally more prepared. The last 25 years I’ve seen it go through so many changes.
“You always look back and think you could have done better. All through my 20s, I won my first UCI World Cup overall here in 2001 and about a month later I dislocated my shoulder, which injured me through my 20s. I always wish I’d got surgery a bit sooner, but back then there wasn’t the surgery to fix the problem I was having with my shoulder…until 2008 when I managed to get it fixed. I remember racing here in Mont-Sainte-Anne and my shoulder dislocated mid-run and I was trying to swing it to get it back in. And I couldn’t. I decided to pull off track to get out the way, and as I pulled off it went back in, so I turned back on and kept racing. I finished second. There are lots of those little regrets the whole way through.”
While he’s stepping away from UCI World Cup racing, Minnaar will still be part of Norco Race Division as Team Director for the 2025 season onwards.
