A week of enormous emotions in Val di Sole, the home of the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships 2021, was able to give a goosebumps ending in its final act, the great challenge of Downhill on the Black Snake on Sunday 29th August.
Source: press release
After the triumph of Nino Schurter In Cross Country, today it was Greg Minnaar's turn: for the second time in two days, Val di Sole crowned the greatest interpreter in the history of the respective disciplines.
On the threshold of 40 years (he will turn them on 13 November), the South African phenomenon has won his fourth World Championship, 8 years after the last, even 18 years after the first, dated 2003. Not only that: Minnaar also has dispelled his curse on the Black Snake, one of the few tracks in the world where he had never managed to get on the top step of the podium.
The latest descents and the party that followed were a continuation of collective emotion, with a large audience participating in the continuous twists of a breathtaking race, on a track capable of thrilling, deceiving and disappointing like no other.
Greg Minnaar hadn't won a World Cup for 8 years, but he never gave up. Those who had seen him train in Val di Sole in recent weeks had said: Greg can do it. The South African champion had tried lines, became familiar with the track, and had grown in conviction day after day.
"I knew a victory was possible,"Said the South African before wearing the iris,"I knew that by giving it all I could build a great run, but until the end you never know if it will be enough. "
In reality, the Pietermaritzburg athlete's masterpiece took place in the second half of the test, after passing through to the second split with over a second to recover on the Frenchman. Benoit CoulangesFrom there on, Minnaar got into the flow, floating over rocks and roots and drawing a perfect line in the final corners to stage the most sensational of comebacks. 3.28.963 is the time of the winning run, worth its weight in gold, and which withstood the subsequent assaults of the French. Bruni, Orchard e Open it up, all off the podium, the latter even protagonist of two falls.
Second place went to the least expected Frenchman, Benoit Coulanges (+0.227), an excellent performer in the selective central section. Bronze went to the Australian. Troy Brosnan (+0.441). Three athletes in less than half a second after 2100 meters of competition: the synthesis of a race that will be remembered for a long time.
The British stopped at the foot of the podium Danny Hart, while the very young Matt walker he closed the top-5 proving to belong to the elite of the discipline. Nothing to do even for the British Laurie Greenland, who this time found no inspiration on his favorite track, victim of a crash in the first part of the course. First of the Italians, the Sardinian David Palazzari, twenty-sixth.
ORDER OF ARRIVAL
COMPLETE RANKING
