Minnaar by the numbers PLUS moments with Greg from fellow South African racers
On the back of Greg’s electrifying performance at World Champs, I reached out to fellow South Africans who have traveled and raced with him. The brief: put down a few words on your standout moment or memory of the man. I hope you enjoy them.
Firstly, here’s a recap of his World Championship and World Cup career, as it stands…
The numbers are staggering
Greg Minnaar has competed in 24 World Championship events and is the first rider from the continent of Africa to wear the Rainbow Stripes, in any cycling discipline. His first World Cup win came at the age of 18 and to date he has competed in 145 World Cup Races spanning 24 years. He has a total of 82 podium results with 111 top 10 finishes at the World Cups. At those World Cups, he placed inside the top 20 more than 80% of the time.
His results at the World Championships and what they tell us
From my memory and research, on two of the occasions where he is outside of the top 10 on this World Champs result list, there was a mechanical of some sorts involved. Whichever way you look at it – he has dominated the modern era of World Championship racing the likes of which we have never – or likely will ever see again.
| Year | Venue | Winner | Greg’s position |
| 2000 | Sierra Nevada, Spain | Myles Rockwell | 11th |
| 2001 | Vail, USA | Nicolas Vouilloz | 3rd |
| 2002 | Kaprun, Austria | Nicolas Vouilloz | n/a |
| 2003 | Lugano, Italy | Greg Minnaar | 1st |
| 2004 | Les Gets, France | Fabien Barel | 2nd |
| 2005 | Livigno, Italy | Fabien Barel | 3rd |
| 2006 | Rotorua, New Zealand | Sam Hill | 2nd |
| 2007 | Ft William, Scotland | Sam Hill | 4th |
| 2008 | Val di Sole, Italy | Gee Atherton | 4th |
| 2009 | Canberra, Australia | Steve Peat | 2nd |
| 2010 | MSA, Canada | Sam Hill | 3rd |
| 2011 | Champery, Switzerland | Danny Hart | 9th |
| 2012 | Leogang, Austria | Greg Minnaar | 1st |
| 2013 | Pietermaritzburg, South Africa | Greg Minnaar | 1st |
| 2014 | Hafjell, Norway | Gee Atherton | 30th – Flat and fumble |
| 2015 | Vallnord, Andorra | Loic Bruni | 2nd |
| 2016 | Val di Sole, Italy | Danny Hart | 7th |
| 2017 | Cairns, Australia mate | Loic Bruni | 61st – Flat |
| 2018 | Lenzerheide, Switzerland | Loic Bruni | 8th |
| 2019 | MSA, Canada | Loic Bruni | 5th |
| 2020 | Leogang, Austria | Reece Wilson | 27th |
| 2021 | Val di Sole, Italy | Greg Minnaar | 1st |
Against all odds
Greg has competed against the best riders in the modern era of the sport – and has beaten them all, including Vouilloz who has more rainbow jerseys but none from the modern era. Perhaps what is most impressive, is his newly found ability to win on any style of track. From the steeps of Val di Sole to the high speeds of Fort William – you name it, he will win on it – and that’s something that doesn’t come naturally in this game. Through various stages of his career, Greg focused on weak spots and turned them into strengths – racing in the mud, racing on the very edge of control are but a few of them. Let’s not forget he has won Worlds at home which is incredibly difficult to do. Then there’s the back-to-back titles of 2012 and 2013 – another incredible achievement which only a handful of riders get to do. In a sport that has so many variables, to be on top of the game for what is easily five times longer than the average professional rider’s career is simply astonishing. What’s more – he did it all whilst based in the little town of Pietermaritzburg where there are no ski-lifts or gondola rides.
Is he the Greatest Of All Time? (GOAT)
Greg has remained at the top of the game for over 20 years and nobody has done that. Between the ages of 18 and 40 he has been beaten and come back to beat every one of his contenders, from the likes of Voullioz, Barel, Peat, Hill, Atherton, Gwin, Bruni and any of the other greats. The results and accolades I’ve listed are unmatched – and I didn’t even dive into his NORBA results or 4X wins. I don’t know that he is the greatest sportsperson the world has ever seen (could be) but when you look at the bigger picture and understand the intricacies of this sport, he is easily the greatest ever. This subject is actually long past the debate phase, but I felt I needed to include some insights here.
The Good Times
Recollections from fellow racers….
Ashley Nesbitt: “For me what is incredible about Greg is that he has remained so humble and has never forgotten his roots. The doffest thing ever was me telling the “laaitie” after a race in Paarl in 1995 that he would never win as many races as me.”
Oliver Munnik: “Minnaar’s humility is something very special. My twin Simon, my dad Peter and I first met Greg in a caravan park at a Maxxis Cup in Zweisimmen, Switzerland in 2003 where we were preparing for the 2003 World Championships … the Zweisimmen course was an absolute mud-fest and to say we were out of our depth is an understatement. The day before the race, Greg came to the caravan park to do his laundry and bumped into us … we spent the next hour and half chatting in our caravan as if we had known each other for years, and he went out of his way to reassure us that we’d be ok in the mud. A week later he was crowned World Champion in Lugano for the first time. To be on the same South African team was a surreal, and unforgettable experience.”
Myles Kelsey: “The team arrived a little early at the 2000 World Champs so we could settle in before the racing started. Greg was also early but had traveled to the venue separately. I’ll never forget how homesick he was and how happy he was to see the South African team. We drank a ton of beer on that first night. Another memory of good times with Minn is from 2003 – it involves a lot of tequila, Mexico and a lost passport. Good times!” – Myles Kelsey / Author
Gary Perkin: “I first met Greg in 1986 or 1987 in Pietermaritzburg where we both grew up .. and GM still calls home. I think for me his grounding in a city that feels like a small town where everyone in the scene knows each other is what makes him such a star. He’s traveled the world for a quarter of century, done glitzy A-List shows with Samuel L. Jackson, won 4 World Championships, 3 World Cup overalls and holds the record for most World Cup Downhill wins and so much more. And yet he still can’t wait to get back to Sleepy Hollow as PMB is known at the season to hang out with friends he’s known for decades.
He should be the ultimate rock star … he is – but it is always tempered with an amazing humility and genuine concern and interest in others. Case in point – after knowing he’d won and was celebrating in the finish corral in Val di Sole – he could still be heard asking other riders how their run went! My first World Champs with Greg was 2001 in Vail, Colorado. He’d already raced a few prior as Junior but hadn’t won a title yet. Come 2001, Greg had already secured his first overall World Cup Downhill title at 19 by beating the great Nicolas Vouilloz in Mont-Sainte-Anne, Quebec. Greg had this crazy line in the woods that he’d spotted but hadn’t ridden in case someone else saw him … but in finals he took it and it was enough to secure second place and beat the great Vouilloz. He had a similar option line in Vail at Worlds. There was this drop called Bud’s Bailout .. the entry was a rock drop that was being done by everyone .. but Greg had an exit line over a huge rock which allowed him to get backside on the downslope onto the road and carry much faster exit speed into the next section. He ran that line twice – once in practice and once in the race – as he knew the French support staff would be videoing him all week and would relay any secret lines he had after his showing at MSA. Greg secured his first World Champs medal that weekend snapping his chain just before the line and crashing over it for 3rd.
Fast forward a couple of years to 2003 and we’re in Lugano, Switzerland for another World Championships … this track was rough and the weather was crazy warm for the time of year and I remember the track being so blown out. Once again Greg had some lines – he even practiced one right at the end of practice when he thought no-one was watching .. the next day all the French riders were on it. The course had a some great sections to shoot – but the finish went through a tunnel under a main road with a flat featureless – photo wise – finish sprint so I spent a lot of time hiking down that course looking for a spot to shoot finals where I could still be close to the finish to capture celebrations and get to podium easily enough as it was always a mad rush at Worlds with outside MTB agency and press photographers bullying their way to the prime spots.
Anyway, I wandered around nervously looking and trying to find a spot with more and more riders coming down but eventually I found my mentors Malcolm Fearon and Mark Dawson huddled in a ditch next to the track right as finals was starting and decided it was this or nothing. But as it got closer and closer to Greg’s start time I got more and more nervous … Malcolm was adding to the nerves joking I’d miss the shot .. but not to worry he’d nail it and I could get it off him! So imagine the buildup of over an hour of this good natured banter before a kid you’ve known for 16 years is about to make history and the race announcer broadcasting the times over the PA so we knew who was up/down at the splits and leading. I was shaking so much with nerves as Greg came into view I fired off five shots … hoping I’d got the shot. But I didn’t have time to check as I had to sprint to the finish area to try get some reaction shots and podium. The crowds were crazy and it was a mad rush and crush .. in those pre-pandemic days. After that it was a blur of podiums, press conference and the like. But I remember the next thing I did – phone Greg’s dad Jeff back in Pietermaritzburg to share the news and shed more than a few tears as the Lighty from PMB had just won the World Championships!”
Andrew Neethling: “I don’t think I will ever forget my first World Championships in Spain in the year 2000 for various reasons and the Greg story being one of them. I was only 15 at the time. The whole SA team looked up to Greg as he had been campaigning overseas already and were excited to meet up with Greg to hear all about it. Little did we know that Greg was a little homesick and just as ready to hangout with his fellow countryman. A team dinner led to a few alcoholic beverages for the over 18s and we went exploring the ski town of Sierra Nevada. Seemed the rules are a little lax in Europe and we all made it into some establishments. A fun night ended with us all walking down some steep roads to find our team hotel. Greg wondered off and that was the last we saw of him. Apparently, according to Greg, all the hotels and streets looked the same as he never did quite find his hotel. Greg was forced to walk up and down these steep streets eventually having to give up the search and make his way down to the pits as that’s all he could recognize. A future multiple world champion had to sleep in his team truck. He still went on to get 11th Place in his first year as an elite and well the rest is history as they say…..
I have too many stories to share and some will be for when he actually retires but on the more serious side. Let us stay on the World Championship topic. Let us go back to 2001 to Worlds in Vail, Colorado. Greg had seriously found his feet in Elite racing taking his first World Cup win earlier that year and winning the World Cup Overall. Clearly riding on serious confidence as I can still remember this rock step-down gap Greg did that year. He was the only rider to attempt it and did it in his race run as well. The run-in was not great coming off a big rock drop and then it was pretty rough into it. Most riders soaked up the take-off and only went a couple of foot in the air down the rough hill. Greg decided to boost off this rock and landed 30 feet down the hill into a small backside. It is not often that only one rider tries something like this so that easily stood out and I won’t forget that in a hurry. Greg went on to take 3rd place with a spectacular crash basically over the line and sliding into the fences in the finish area breaking his hand from what I can remember.”
Gary Barnard: “Greg is and always has been one of the naughtiest and most fun-loving people I have ever met. On TV we all see the intense focus of a person at the top of their game but behind that is a kid who just loves to ride his bike. I’d say Greg’s secret is being able to switch off the pressure by immersing himself in whatever crazy idea has come into his head at any given moment. A few random memories: Greg seeing how far he could gap down a grass bank the night before his first World Cup in Stellenbosch in 1998, sitting on the floor in our Are, Sweden apartment breaking a disk rotor off because he couldn’t loosen the bolts, winning a World Champs silver medal but being too young to get into any of the bars in Vail.
Greg always has time for fellow South Africans and is incredibly proud of his roots, his family and his country. It is so special to see him strong and riding with the passion and commitment that has carried him this far, the World Championship gold medal is just the icing on the cake.”
| IMAGES: Gary Perkin, Bartek Wolinski |
| CONTRIBUTORS: Gary Perkin, Oli Munnik, Gary Barnard, Ashley Nesbitt, Andrew Neethling |