In 2008, Greg Minnaar switched to the Californian Santa Cruz Syndicate team. The team provided him with solid structures for 16 years, which played their part in Minnaar's great successes. It looked like Minnaar's last team stop, which makes the news from the racing team that the South African is leaving the Syndicate team all the more surprising - on good terms, as they emphasize.

Still not enough

With a heavy bag of successes and his 42 years of age, Greg Minnaar could actually sit back and relax and announce the end of his career. But you don't just ride for over 20 years at the top of the world in a sport where younger athletes have clear advantages. Minnaar is an exceptional athlete with a great hunger for success, who also has a lot of fun racing.

However, the 2023 season was a bitter pill to swallow for the living downhill legend. For a long time, he did not get on 100 percent with the V10 prototype and also suffered many defects. And yet, with second, seventh and twelfth places in the World Cup races in Vallnord, Les Gets and Loudenvielle, the South African proved that he was still one of the contenders for victory in this densely packed field of riders.

The question of which bike Minnaar will ride in future to satisfy his unbridled hunger for success remains open. But it is unlikely to be another five seasons, as he revealed to the South African Tread Media back in August.

With Mondraker reportedly parting ways with their previous racing team (MS Mondraker) and setting up their own World Cup team, the Iberian brand would have been a possibility. YT from Germany are also working on larger team structures again, in which the South African would definitely have been seen.

Surprising, however, is the information that Minnaar is to ride for the Norco team, which has so far been rather small in terms of structure. According to Pinkbike, a deal has been agreed with Norco. However, confirmation is still lacking from all sides, so this is a rumor with a good dose of truth to it.

This would also be a breath of fresh air for Norco. Minnaar is quite simply a phenomenon. He has been taking part in world championships for 27 years and has been competing in the Downhill World Cup since 2000 and is still at the top today. The 42-year-old South African became elite world champion in Lugano in 2003 and won his fourth world title in Val di Sole in 2021 - at the age of almost 40. He is also considered one of those riders who tinker a lot with the bike to make it perfect, just as he did with Santa Cruz.

If this deal goes through, Greg Minnaar would once again have fresh motivation to adapt to a new bike and take it to the highest level thanks to his input. Norco, on the other hand, would have another chance to give its reputation a boost after the brand had lost some of its sporting luster in recent years.