Greg Minnaar is a man for the grandest of occasions, and as South Africa was celebrating a great moment in Utrecht, the man from Pietermaritzburg gave the Rainbow Nation more reason for joy when he became the most successful downhill rider in history.
Minnaar took his 18th UCI World Cup victory on Saturday, winning in Lenzerheide, Switzerland, for his second win of the year.
It pushed him past his Santa Cruz Syndicate teammate and good friend Steve Peat, the British rider whose World Cup record he had equalled recently in Fort William, Scotland.
His time, an exact three minutes and 0.535 seconds, was less than a second ahead of Loic Bruni of France.
It was, said Rob Warner, the respected former professional and now analyst, a ride that made Minnaar the greatest ever.
“That was the most nerve-wracking time ever, I just sat there, waiting,” said Minnaar, who had to sit on the leader’s hot seat as Bruni flew down less than a second behind at each check-point.
“I’m trying to soak it up. Bruni’s a good friend of mine and he was killing it.
“I don’t know what to say. I didn’t think I had it in me to win. The conditions being so rough and tricky may have helped me.
“I was quite safe everywhere, I tried to keep momentum and speed. When it came to the ‘plunge’ section I stalled up and thought I had lost it. I felt like I had thrown a bad pie across the room, if that makes sense, but I got it together and kept on.
“We have done some great testing with Santa Cruz recently and things have clicked into place,” said Minnaar, who had struggled with a thumb injury earlier in the season.
Peat, the 40-year-old Englishman who has been a friend and mentor to Minnaar, was the first to congratulate the veteran South Africa.
When asked what Peat had said to him, Minnaar was coy. “It’s a bit explicit but he said, ‘well done’.”
The win came 14 years after Minnaar won his first World Cup as a teenager.
The Pietermaritzburg boy, who quit school after Grade 10 to pursue his dream as a professional down-hill racer, is a three-time World Champion.
His last title was an emotional home-town victory in Maritzburg in 2013 after wins in 2003 and 2012, while he has won the overall World Cup title three times (2004, 2006 and 2009).
Minnaar is heading back home this week to take part in the Oakley X-Over event in Jeffreys Bay against a dozen other South African legends.
Rumour has it there may be some drinks involved.
Not a million miles away, Team MTN Qhubeka powered by Samsung, got their first Tour de France off to a solid start.
Daniel Teklehaimanot was the first man off the individual time trial start-line on the first stage of the Tour in Utrecht, the Netherlands.
He had a solid ride, leading the Tour for a spell with a time of 16 minutes and 30 seconds, but that was eclipsed by the performance of MTN-Qhubeka’s Steve Cummings, who was 10th overall, 32 seconds behind the impressive Rohan Dennis (BMC). Cummings, the Brit, was once part of the South African Barloworld outfit.