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Greg Minnaar Crowned the Inaugural Xdream Indoor Mountain Bike World Champion

1.6.2009

Greg Minnaar the 3 time Downhill World Cup Champion was crowned the inaugural Xdream Indoor Mountain Bike World Champion at Bike Radar live on Sat Evening at Donnington Park. Minnaar beat off stiff competition from some of the world's finest riders including Steve Peat, Gee Atherton and former 1 hour endurance world record holder Graham Obree. The Event sponsored by Trixter, Race Face, Mountain Bike World and Bike Radar live will be televised on Sky sports next month and was hosted and commentated on by 2 time world BMX champion Scott Beaumont.

The 1541 meter Xdream Parklands course had a gradual 54 meter accent with a fast downhill section to finish. The riders set qualifying times during the day with Red Bull Rider Gee Atherton setting the quickest time of 2 minutes 47 seconds. The races consisted of 3 riders on identical bikes racing head to head on the virtual parkland course with winner automatically progressing to the next stage.

Semi final 1 featured Graham Obree World record Road Racer vs Liam Phillips Olympic BMXer vs Marc Beaumont World Cup Downhiller. Philips as expected with his explosive start got off to an early lead although he was chased down quickly by the Flying Scotsman Obree. Obree's unparalleled pedal power saw him take a mid race lead but carried too much speed into the tricky bridge section and clipped the fence and crashed out spectacularly losing around 10 seconds. The fall gave both Beaumont and Phillips the opportunity to get past and the racing was neck and neck until the final downhill section. Beaumont took the lead at the top of the hill and his silky downhill skills ensured he was the first passed the post with an impressive time of 2:44.

Semi final 2 was just as exciting featuring Downhiller Greg Minnaar vs 4 X specialist Romain Saladini vs World Cup legend Steve Peat. Peat racing with an injured hand was off the early pace but Saladini got off to a flyer from the start and took the early initiative. Saladini remained in front till the mid section when Minnaar's superior leg power was too much for the young French rider. Greg took the win with a time of 2:45secs to claim the last place in the final alongside fastest qualifier Gee Atherton.

The Final saw the quickest time of the day and was exclusively made up by the super fast downhillers. Gee Atherton on Xdream 1, Greg Minnaar on Xdream 2 along with Marc Beaumont on Xdream 3. Crowd favorite Atherton along with Minnaar made slow starts in comparison to Beaumont who burst out of the starting gate and into a couple of bike lengths lead. His lead however was short lived as a small mistake on the very tight first bridge saw Beaumont launched into the ravine and lose over 10 secs. From then on in the race was between the undisputed 2 best riders of the competition. Atherton and Minnaar head to head on the uphill section swapping the lead giving the large crowd plenty to cheer about. At the top of the hill Atherton was half a bike length behind but Minnaar's downhill section was spectacular and by far the best of the day. Minnaar seemed to find an extra gear from somewhere and rode the perfect finishing section to extend his winning margin to nearly 2 seconds setting the fastest time of the weekend with a 2:35.

Minnaar said "I knew Gee and Marc would be tough competition but I knew if I could get to the top of the hill in the lead I could close it out. It was just great fun and such a great buzz with the crowd so close to the action".

The Event will run again next year at Bike Radar live but until then members of the public can try the bikes at Virgin Active gyms or check out www.trixter.net for more details.