South African Minnaar is one of the most successful mountain bike downhill riders of all time. He has eleven World Championship golds to his credit, including four golds – the most recent of which came as recently as 2021.
But in Scottish Glasgow today, nothing went on. With just under a quarter of the race left and just over a second up to the leader, hopes of another medal disappeared, as the tyre broke – and Minnaar had to retire from the race.
The gold went to 25-year-old Briton Charlie Hatton, who has never won a World Championship medal before. Best Swede was Oliver Zwar. He came in 26th place.