Lourdes on race day was sunny and warm, and fans came out in droves to watch the first World Cup! The course was classic French DH… steep, technical, and scary fast. Line choice became a nightmare as the tough track became increasingly blown out during the weekend. Simply making it down without a crash, mechanical or puncture became most riders’ objective!

O’NEAL’s Greg Minnaar is still recovering from thumb surgery only two weeks ago, no one was quite sure what we’d see from Greg at the first World Cup. It was quickly evident that Greg came to race getting steadily faster throughout the weekend. Greg planned to be smart and steady, and made a top-30 finish his goal, in light of his hand injury. He was riding great, but partway down the track the strapping on his brace came loose. He backed off the throttle just a bit, but crossed the line with a time that would put him in 29th if everyone remaining finished ahead of him. As we saw, there were a mess of flat tires, which boosted Greg to 22nd. “A few weeks ago I told the doctors I would be racing in 2 weeks time, and now I’ve done it. I feel that I had quite a good run considering my injury and I improved my time each day. I’m pretty confident that it should be healed up for the next World Cup in Ft. William.” Watch the premiere episode of THE SYNDICATE featuring Ratboy, Peaty and of course O’NEAL’s Greg Minnaar preparing for the 2015 season, and race the first World Cup at Lourdes, France:

FEATURED PRODUCTS