Age is no barrier to gold: Minnaar becomes downhill world champion at 40
On the final day of the Downhill World Championships, Frenchman Antoine Vidal was in the hot seat for a long time. It wasn't until Austrian Andreas Kolb set the fastest time that things started to move again, and the best times were gradually undercut by Finn Iles (CAN) and Danny Hart (GRB). The latter's time of 03:30.813 is again considered an announcement until Benoit Coulanges storms down the Commezzadura track and beats Hart's time by almost two seconds.
The following Australian Troy Brosnan battles against the Frenchman's best time, but narrowly fails to beat it. Now the longest-serving driver takes to the track. Greg Minnaar, who turns 40 next November, completes the technically difficult sections in his usual clean and controlled manner, takes the lead at times and beats Coulange's time by just two tenths of a second at the finish.Now the French trio of Loic Bruni, Loris Vergier and world number one Thibault Daprela were expected to be the world champions. But Bruni fails to catch Minnaar's time, as does Loris Vergier, although the latter is still in the lead at the top. It's all or nothing for Daprela. But the Frenchman is also slower at the second intermediate time, albeit not by much. Immediately afterwards, the 20-year-old takes himself out of the decision. He crashes, rides on quickly and crashes again. Greg Minnaar, almost twice his age, is world champion again after his last title in 2013!"I was in tears," Minnaar replies when asked why he didn't burst into jubilation after Daprela's crash, and he adds respectfully: "Besides, I always wait until the last rider finishes to celebrate. As for the race itself, I knew I could win. But doing it is yet another thing, especially on this wild track. It's just incredible!"
Good premiere for Lehmann
Expectations among the Swiss downhill racers are less high, but no less ambitious, especially as none of the riders are able to ride the sport professionally. Swiss champion Yannik Bächler has the highest expectations with a top 25 result. Although 42nd place is by no means a bad result in this competitive field, it is still below his expectations. "Unfortunately, it didn't go well at all. I couldn't find the flow, made too many mistakes and my chain jammed at the bottom," says Bächler, recapitulating his run in consternation.
Basil Weber's season so far has been tough. His 38th place in qualifying was a relief for the veteran and raised hopes for more. But 51st place in the final race tells a different story. "I had hard arms right from the start and consequently I rode too cautiously," said Weber, explaining his result.Lino Lehmann had expected the least. Still competing in the U19s in 2020, the Thurgau native was delighted with his first World Championship start in the elite category, and his 39th place was a respectable result. Not everything went so smoothly, as Lehmann explains: "The result feels great, especially as it's also my first big race. I'm happy with the result, but my run wasn't one I want to remember for a long time. I rode well at the top, then in the middle I touched a tree with my shoulder and was only just able to hold on to the handlebars and make it to the finish."
"Child star" takes gold - Bächler eleventh
In the junior downhill race, Switzerland's Nicolas Bächler got off to a slow start, but then improved significantly and finished his World Championship run in a good eleventh place - his best international result to date. "Apart from one or two minor mistakes, one run was very good. But I guess everyone makes mistakes on this track. My goal was the top 15, a high target that I have never been able to achieve before. So it's all the nicer that I was able to achieve it so clearly."
Jackson Goldstone was once something of a child star on the mountain bike scene, becoming famous for the video of him riding his kickbike into kindergarten. Now the 17-year-old Canadian is the junior world champion. The places of honor go to Jordan Williams (GBR) and Lachlan Steven-McNab (NZL).
Further content on this article
Note: This content has been automatically translated from German. Please report any incorrect translations.