Minnaar defeats series leader Atkinson in Tahoe

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Santa Cruz Syndicate's Greg Minnaar bagged another win this season at Northstar in Lake Tahoe at the US Pro GRT downhill. He was joined on the podium by Bryn Atkinson (Transitions) in second, Syndicate teammate Steve Peat in third, Cedric Gracia (Brigade) in fourth and the young Mitch Ropelato in fifth.

Racers faced a dry, dusty course, something they hadn't seen since the Fort William World Cup. The altitude was also something they hadn't dealt with lately.

As the practice days wore on, by the time the elite men raced down the hill, the four-minute course was rough and beat up.

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After partaking in his new race ritual of rolling on the ground before the start to dirty his jersey in an effort to fight the curse of crashing in the rainbow jersey, Steve Peat set the fastest race run time of 4:06.5, two seconds faster than the fastest time in seeding.

However, Bryn Atkinson bumped Peat from the hot seat when he crossed the line with a stunning 4:03.3

Minnaar was next and came down absolutely smashing the times set by Atkinson and Peat, with a staggering 3:59.9 for the win

"The altitude was killer and so were the course conditions. I felt like I was riding through my mom's makeup bag!" said Minnaar. "I knew it would be a physical race and I knew I had to pedal hard. I can feel it now and it was definitely well worth it."

Hacking with lung burn from the altitude, Peat said "It's been a swell weekend sucking thin air! I haven't raced a proper race in the US in years. I'm stoked to come back to the states and do a race here."

In the women's race, Jill Kintner (Transitions) clocked the fastest time of 4:29.7. She was followed by Kathy Pruitt, 7.8 seconds later. Veteran racer Leigh Donovan was third at 15.5 seconds, with Jacqueline Harmony hot on her heels a fraction of a second later. Rachel Bauer rounded out the top five with a time 17.2 seconds off Kintner's.

Race note: Minnaar's teammate Josh Bryceland stayed home for this event to recover from his crash in Leogang where he suffered a concussion and an impact to his AC shoulder joint.

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