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SYNDICATE SMACKDOWN, MINNAAR WINS IT, PEAT 3RD, RENNIE 4TH AT FT. WILLIAM
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Ft.
William, Scotland
June 8,
2008
Wow, what a
day for the Santa Cruz Syndicate with Greg
Minnaar
taking the win at the 100th UCI World Cup
Downhill in
Ft. William, Scotland, and Steve Peat and
Nathan
Rennie joining him on the podium!
It was
especially
sweet for Minnaar today as he conquered the
track after
last year’s let down of crashing at World
Championships,
breaking his scapula and dislocating
his
shoulder and placing fourth.
“Revenge is sweet!”
exclaimed
Minnaar. Equally exciting was the
return of
Rennie back
where he belongs on the podium.
It was a
shocker for Ft. William to be bone dry and
dusty after
five weeks with no rain. Walking down the
course in
the spongy, squeaky peat bog scattered with
bits of
lamb’s wool tucked into the scrubby brush,
racers ride
past with the energy transmitting through
the ground
to your feet. Even with a few
course
changes
from years past, you couldn’t even compare
times to
last years track as the conditions made it
completely
different. The demanding track did
claim a
few victims
during practice with young Steve Smith
hyper-extending
his knee that took him out of the
race. Matti Lehikonen suffered a get-off and
gouged
his knee on
a metal grate as his kneepad shifted.
Good news
for the Syndicate, Josh Bryceland returned
to
competition at Ft. Bill after suffering a massive
crash and
leg injury in Maribor. Bryceland
started
practice
cautiously and his knee was playing on his
mind a
bit. Steve Peat had him follow him
down to
check it
out, but the second day of practice Bryceland
just forgot
about it and rode well.
Nathan
Rennie was focused and determined to have some
revenge in
the race to redeem himself since crashing
on this
track last year at World Championships.
Greg
Minnaar
thought the difficult week he had in Andorra
was behind
him, but it wasn’t, and again his
mechanical
problems plagued him all week. Practice
went fine
for Peat and he was glad to be in the rare
Scottish
sunshine amidst the large, enthusiastic
crowds that
flock to Ft. Bill to see the race.
QUALIFER:
With the
slightest drizzle before practice the track
improved
slightly then the day stayed dry.
Greg
Minnaar set
the pace in the qualifier with a solid run
winning
it. Peat finished 4th and Rennie
puts himself
back in the
game with an 8th place finish.
Bryceland
rode
without expectations and after doing a one-foot
table, he
took it easy and just carried on riding
steady in
his run for 29th.
Minnaar
said, “Everyone is going for points and I’m
happy to
get top points by winning the qualifier.
Hopefully I
can max out points in the final, as well.
My run was
sweet, but I drank a bit of energy drink on
an empty
stomach and it had me buzzing. I
won’t do
that
again.” Peat was fast on most of
the track, but
messed up
on a few parts where he needed to carry
speed. “I’m glad to finish up with the big
boys,”
said
Peat. Rennie was pleased with his
efforts
saying, “I
just relaxed in my run and just went nice
and
steady. It feels good to be back in
the top ten.
I needed
that to get out of the rut I’ve been in.
I’m
back where
I’m suppose to be and I have plenty of fuel
in the tank
for the final.”
DOWNHILL
FINAL:
The
excitement was building as thousands of spectators
watched the
big screen and lined the course with the
tunes
blaring, announcers pumping up the crowd and
Josh
Bryceland back in action taking the hot seat with
a
4:57.13. His stint in the hot seat
barely started
when Marc
Beaumont bumped him out. Twenty
riders
later
Rennie was on track and the leader board showed
he was 3
seconds faster on the split time than the
leader and
he moved into the hot seat with a 4:48.19.
The crowd
went mental when Peat came on the big
screen. Peat bumped Rennie from the hot seat and
they
made the
exchange joyfully. Minnaar was the
last man
down the
hill and his split time showed he was on
target for
the win. He did not disappoint as
he
blasted
across the finish line winning by 3.17 seconds
amidst
thousands of cheers, especially mine!!!!
The podium
presentation was jubilant for the
Syndicate. Peaty came in from stage right sliding
on
his knees,
then Minnaar was presented with a sword
engraved
for the 100th World Cup Downhill and he
whacked off
the top of the champagne bottle, literally
with cork
and glass flying.
“I’m back
mother f_____r!” said Rennie.
“Everything
clicked
nicely. I could’ve had a better
run, which is
good for me
because I know I’ve got more in me.
I’m
happy for
Greg for his win today, and the rest of the
team for
getting the overall team classification.
I’m
glad
everything is falling into place, especially
before
World Championship’s.”
Peaty says,
“Stoked!! Syndicate rules!! It’s gonna
be a hell
of a night!”
DOWNHILL FINAL RESULTS:
1 GREG MINNAAR (SANTA CRUZ SYNDICATE) 4:43.52
2 GEE
ATHERTON 4:46.69
3 STEVE
PEAT (SANTA CRUZ SYNDICATE)
4:47.42
4 NATHAN
RENNIE (SANTA CRUZ SYNDICATE)
4:48.19
5 SAM
HILL 4:48.70
6 DAN
ATHERTON 4:49.76
7 JUSTIN
LEOV 4:52.38
8 BEN
CATHRO 4:52.40
9 SAM
BLENKINSOP 4:52.97
10 MICKAEL
PASCAL 4:53.87
16TH: JOSH BRYCELAND (SANTA CRUZ
SYNDICATE) 4:57.13
QUALIFIER
RESULTS:
1 GREG
MINNAAR (SANTA CRUZ SYNDICATE)
4:47.15
2 GEE
ATHERTON 4:47.44
3 SAM
HILL 4:49.02
4 STEVE
PEAT (SANTA CRUZ SYNDICATE)
4:49.97
5 FABIEN
BAREL 4:52.82
6 BEN
CATHRO 4:52.86
7 DAN
ATHERTON 4:53.07
8 NATHAN
RENNIE 4:53.92 (SANTA CRUZ SYNDICATE)
9 JULIEN
CAMELLINI 4:54.44
10 SAM
BLENKINSOP 4:54.68
29 JOSH BRYCELAND (SANTA CRUZ
SYNDICATE)
Thanks to
the SYNDICATE Sponsors:
Santa Cruz
Bicycles
SRAM
RockShox
Truvativ
Avid
Maxxis
DT
Swiss
WTB
Crankbrothers
Lizard Skins
Clif
Bar
Troy Lee
Designs
Chris
King
Five
Ten
Kathy
Sessler
Santa Cruz
Syndicate
Manager
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