It’s been a roller coaster year for Greg Minnaar.

The South African downhiller opened the season riding his country’s Absa Cape Epic as a celebrity participant in the mixed team category (he finished fourth). Minnaar then spent the 2007 World Cup season nipping at the heels of reigning world champ Sam Hill. But a badly timed shoulder dislocation suffered while training in France, Germany derailed his campaign. Seemingly recovered, Minnaar looked to be capable of dethroning Hill at the World Cup round at Mont-Ste-Anne, Quebec, and at the world championships in Fort William, Scotland. But in both races Minnaar’s shoulder painfully popped out of the socket midway through the run, forcing the South African to cool his jets. In Fort William, Minnaar hit the deck after his shoulder dislocated, breaking his shoulder blade.

Minnaar still managed to give a post-race interview, despite the pain.

Then, in the off-season, Minnaar learned that Honda was ending its sponsorship of the G Cross-Honda team, the squad Minnaar has led since 2005. Minnaar’s understudy, teammate Matti Lehikoinen, inked a deal to lead Intense Cycle’s team, but Minnaar remained without a team through much of the fall. Salvation came from the California-based Santa Cruz Syndicate team — for 2008, Minnaar will ride alongside the hard charging, hard drinking duo of Steve Peat and Nathan Rennie.

VeloNews caught Minnaar on the phone as he was heading into a house party near his home in Pietermaritzburg.

At Cape Epic

Velonews.com: How are things coming with the injury?

Greg Minnaar: It’s coming along alright. I had surgery seven weeks ago for the dislocation I suffered in Europe. I don’t know exactly the medical terminology for what they did. But they said that in Fort William when I crashed and broke my scapula, I dislocated it out of the back, but because I didn’t realize it was dislocated I carried on racing and that is what really messed the back of my shoulder up. Not only was the front of the shoulder capsule damaged, but the back end was wrecked too. The surgery was supposed to be an hour and a half and it ended up being two and a half hours. It was the real deal.

VN: Have you ever faced an injury like this in your career?

GM: No, I definitely haven’t had anything like that before. I have another six weeks or so of recovery to go. I’ve been out 12 weeks and I’m ready to be back on the bike. It’s been a while! Every other day is physical therapy.

VN: What do you predict things will be like on Santa Cruz Syndicate next year?

GM: I think there’s going to be a lot of beer drunk! I’m excited. I’ve always been the star rider on teams since I started. I’ve never ridden alongside someone as high profile as Steve. We’ll be an equal force, but I see Steve as the lead rider on our team. He is such a stable rider and a powerful force, and has been for so long. It will be cool to have someone on the team like that.

VN: Are you going to have to check your ego? I mean, do you see this as a step down for you?

GM: Well obviously Steve is our lead rider, and Nathan has been there a long time as well. I don’t expect to be second in the lineup as well. But I’m cool with it because it’s something I’ve never had. The two of them have a really tight relationship. I just think it’s going to make us hard to beat in the World Cup overall.

VN: And the World Cup itself? Sam Hill showed he was riding at a different level last year.

GM: Yeah, but I think beating him is very possible. Two races come to mind where if it weren’t for my injury I would have been more competitive and might have beaten him, and that’s Mont-Ste-Anne and Fort William. At Mont-St-Anne I dislocated the shoulder two weeks before the race, and I was on target to win and then I dislocated it in the third round during the finals. I had to ride the last two minutes with [the shoulder] out. Sam is good but I don’t see him as super human. In Champéry [Switzerland], yes he was amazing there and I don’t think you could find anyone else who could ride that. But I don’t think he’s that much ahead of everyone.

Canadian Talent Joints Luna for 2008
The Berkeley, California-based Luna Women’s Professional mountain-bike team has signed talented Canadian rider Catherine Pendrel for the 2008 season. Pendrel turned heads with a stunning sixth-place finish at the 2007 UCI world championships in Fort William, Scotland. Pendrel also won gold at the 2007 Pan American Games, out dueling top American rider Mary McConneloug.

Pendrel lives with her husband in Kamloops, British Columbia, but hails from Nova Scotia. The 27-year-old hopes to qualify for Canada’s Olympic squad in 2008.

Pendrel joins the squad of cross-country riders Georgia Gould, Chloe Forsman, Katerina Nash and Shonny Vanlandingham, as well as downhiller Marla Streb for 2008. Vanlandingham, the 2004-06 National Mountain Bike Series champion, will focus primarily on Xterra Triathlons. Joining Vanlandingham on the Luna triathlon team will be talented off-road triathlete Danelle Kabush, elder sister of Canadian cross-country champion Geoff Kabush.

Luna’s Alison Dunlap, the 2001 UCI world champion who retired in 2005, will stay on as the team’s new media liaison and public relations manager.

Llanes featured on Television Program
Pro mountain bike racer and Giant for Women Ride Society leader Tara Llanes is to be featured on the television program, “Access Hollywood.” The segment about Tara is scheduled to air on the nationally-syndicated television show on Wednesday December 26, 2007.

A World Cup contender U.S. champion in gravity mountain-bike racing, Tara has been a fixture on the domestic scene for over 10 years. She was paralyzed from the waist down in a crash at the Jeep King of the Mountain finale at Beaver Creek Resort in Colorado on September 1, 2007.

Llanes was airlifted to a hospital in Denver where she underwent seven hours of surgery to her damaged spinal cord. For the past two months, she’s been recovering and undergoing rehabilitation therapy at the Craig Hospital in Denver.

In early December, “Access Hollywood” reporter Maria Menounos interviewed Tara about her accident and a camera crew followed her through a day of her grueling therapy. The segment about Llanes will be part of a series of inspirational stories presented during Christmas week on “Access Hollywood.” A list of television stations around the United States that broadcast “Access Hollywood” can be found at www.accesshollywood.com.

Suzuki to Sponsor Granny Gear’s 24-Hour Series
Suzuki Automotive will step in as the title sponsor of the 24-Hour National Points Series, a six-race circuit of 24-hour races organized by Granny Gear Productions (www.grannygear.com).

"Mountain bikers are people who live life to the fullest and don't just watch it go by," said Gene Brown, vice president of marketing and public relations, American Suzuki. "Suzuki Automotive's sponsorship of the 24 Hour Series was a natural match."

Granny Gear Productions pioneered 24-hour mountain bike racing in 1992. In 2006, leveraging its extensive production experience, the company created a national point series.

2008 24-Hour National Points SeriesApril 26-27 — Vail Lake, CaliforniaMay 17-18 — Conyers, GeorgiaJune 7-8 — Big Bear, West VirginiaJuly 26-27 — Killington, VermontSeptember 20-21 — Landahl, MissouriOctober 11-12