Mountain bike racing is risky, and downhill is the riskiest of all. Marginal crashes can end pro careers, and in the most extreme form of mountain bike racing, gravity and steep mountain trails often triumph over the career ambitions of racers. A dramatic crash didn't end the career of one of the best downhill riders of our age, Greg Minnaar, though. After his crash at Val de Sole last year, the South African has now made an impressive return to racing. 

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Unlike XCO lap racing or point-to-point XCM endurance events, downhill mountain biking has a tiny window of opportunity for riders to perform. World Cup XCO events are an hour, but the winning run at a World Cup downhill event is often less than three minutes. 

Fortune favours the brave in downhill racing, with riders willing to risk the most committed lines through treacherous rock gardens, rewarded with victory. But a simple statistical truth remains: the more pro-level downhill races you enter, the higher your likelihood of a career-terminating crash. 

The age-irrelevant gravity rider 

The enveloping risk of everything involved with downhill mountain biking makes the Greg Minnaar story so remarkable. How has a rider managed to remain podium competitive over three decades of competition – winning a World Championship in each of those three decades? 

In theory, Minnaar should have retired more than a decade ago. Yet he is still competing in the year that he turns 42. If Minnaar was a mid-pack rider, his longevity would be heralded as an achievement. But the fact that he has won races and championships across three decades is extraordinary. 

There will never be another downhill racer capable of replicating his achievements, winning across such a broad age spectrum against such credible competition. And that last point is often overlooked: Minnaar has never raced a season of downhill mountain biking against average rivals. A new group of talented, determined and courageous riders in their early 20s graduate to the World Cup circuit, willing to risk all for glory each year. 

Proof that tall riders can dominate 

Centre of gravity is important in mountain biking. It’s why most bikes come with dropper seatposts, allowing riders to get into a lower posture when descending, optimising the relationship between their body position, centre of mass, and the bike. 

Tall riders are at a natural disadvantage in downhill mountain biking because getting into a lower body position is more challenging when you are 6ft+. It’s simple biomechanics. And Minnaar is very tall for a pro downhill mountain biker, at 1.88m (6ft2). What should be a physiological disadvantage has never slowed the South African multiple World Champion down. In fact, he’s made it work to his advantage. 

Minnaar’s size and strength allow him to absorb terrain impacts with authority, muscling the bike through devilish rock gardens with absolute control. Where smaller riders might get pinged off line, Minnaar tracks with authority, keeping his speed and suffering less fatigue on those ultra-demanding World Cup downhill tracks. 

Fort William is the most esteemed track in downhill racing, and Minnaar has won there no less than seven times. It is the venue that punishes unskilled or unfit riders and reveals all Minnaar’s skills. He dominates the exceedingly technical top section of Fort William, with its brutal rock gardens, and his pedalling power has often made the difference on the short, flattish transition half-way down. 

Fitness can be acquired, and Minnaar is a dedicated trainer, but style cannot be learned. You either have it or not. And few downhill riders look more relaxed when dealing with extreme terrain at speed than Minnaar. Most rivals are a head shorter than him, but Minnaar has always stood head and shoulders above them – literally and figurately. 

How KwaZulu-Natal shaped his riding 

Minnaar’s home province of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) is home to one of Africa’s most dramatic mountain ranges: the Drakensberg – which translates as ‘dragon mountain’. KZN’s topography varies from the jagged Drakensberg peaks to hilly forests that surround Minnaar’s hometown of Pietermaritzburg.

A generously warm and sunny year-round climate makes KZN one of the world’s great outdoor adventure locations, allowing a young Minnaar to train and refine his skills all year round. 

Notably, Minnaar was a late convert to mountain biking. He started in motocross as a pre-schooler, following in his father’s footsteps. The bike handling skills and confidence with speed that Minnaar acquired in motocross transferred perfectly to mountain biking when he started riding as a teenager. 

Many of KZN’s trails have a smooth clay surface, enabling a young Minnaar to ride fast and master mountain biking on trails that wind their way through true African wilderness and Zulu tribal communities. The trails in KZN also feature abundant wildlife and some of the world’s most poisonous snakes, making each ride an adventure and an exercise in terrain scanning hyper-awareness. These are skills a young Minnaar acquired, which have served him exceedingly well, riding worldwide. 

An influence beyond ageism 

We revere sportspeople who remain competitive as they age. There is a great relatability to Minnaar for many middle-aged mountain bikers. 

Among Minnaar’s many achievements is that he has won World Championships on all three mountain bike wheel sizes: 26-, 27.5- and 29-inches, a feat which can never be equalled as the 26-inch wheel size is no longer raced. But it also illustrates the legacy of his riding as Minnaar has truly ridden everything, from wild aluminium single-pivot bikes to Honda’s unique RC-03 and carbon VPP linkage frames. 

Minnaar has earned a reputation for being a meticulous and demanding rider regarding equipment and mechanics. For years, he agitated for larger bikes and more accommodating geometries to fit his 1.88m frame. The 29er downhill bike and longer frames for gravity riders, in XL and XXL sizes, can be credited to Minnaar’s needs and his commitment to developing and proving new bike and component design concepts. 

His achievements are unequalled

Minnaar has managed injuries before, conquering a recurring shoulder injury in the mid-2000s, which cost him multiple race wins. His latest injury test was recovering from fractured vertebrate, sustained during a massive crash at last season's final World Cup round, in Val de Sole, Italy. To disprove doubters, Minnaar recovered - and his latest World Cup result, at a viciously fast track in Andorra, was second place….

His record will never be equalled, but Minnaar’s contribution to mountain biking is about more than age-defying race wins and statistics. He believed in carbon wheels and frames for extreme mountain biking when sceptics considered the material inappropriate. Minnaar also brought better sizing for taller riders to the market of downhill bikes, enabling many 6ft+ gravity mountain bikers to have a better riding experience. 

And then there is his signature tyre, the Maxxis Assegai. Regarded as the go-to front tyre for enduro and downhill mountain bikers, the Assegai carries a proudly Zulu name, paying homage to Minnaar’s KZN heritage. 

From competing at Red Bull Rampage to earning four World Championships, 23 World Cup wins and even finishing two Cape Epics, Minnaar’s career has been unscripted. Nobody in their wildest dreams would have believed that a lanky kid from South Africa’s KZN province would become the greatest downhill mountain biker of all time. 

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