Greg Minnaar, Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury - review

With the audience made up of mountain biking fans as well as at least four other World Cup champions, Minnaar, a 3x UCi Downhill World Champion, 3x UCi Downhill World Cup Champion, with 21 World Cup race wins and multiple podium positions to his name, was keen to tell of his riding secrets and just what has made him such a success.

His early love of bikes came began with a BMX given to him for his sixth birthday. He then moved on to Motocross and his love of performing - including clearing cars in one leap - led to his foray in to the world of downhill racing.

The 37-year-old South African was in town as part of his nationwide tour and the sell-out crowd listened on while he told them just how he has become most prolific winner among male professional downhill mountain bike racers.

Minnaar first started to get noticed as a world class downhill racer at the age of 17, in 1999, racing select World Cups and it wasn't long before he was snapped up by a local shop team.

Soon, he was being taken seriously as a name to watch and the audience were shown videos of his racing career alongside stills captured from tracks around the world.

Riding now for the Santa Cruz syndicate, Minnaar detailed his early career riding for Honda where he stayed for four years.

Moving on from his racing life, Minnaar explained how he has become involved in the development of the latest series of Santa Cruz bikes including the V10.

Using his knowledge of the track, he gives an insight in to the design and geometry of the bikes, enabling the designers to shave valuable seconds off the finishing times of the racers.

Minnaar is still a sight to see on the race track.

He races alongside fellow teammates Luca Shaw and Loris Vergier and it is clear to see just why he is one of the greatest mountain bikers in the history of the sport.