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Despite Injury and a couple of mechanicals Steve has finished the 2007 season in 3rd overall.

His weekend in Maribor was upset by a skin iritation caused by the tape used on his injured ankle; causing him to have to ride in just an ankle brace. A flat in his final run on Sunday didn’t help either.

Steve’s having a well earned break from the bike and is heading off to Interbike with the rest of the Syndicate crew.

Sam Hill capped off a dominant season with a race win in Maribor, Slovenia on Sunday, taking the World Cup overall crown in the process. Santa Cruz Syndicate rider Steve Peat placed third overall in the series, after flatting in his race run Sunday. Nathan Rennie struggled in for 25th in the race, dropping to 13th overall at the end of the series.

It was a rough week for the Syndicate boys as they are both injured. Steve worked hard last week at the World Championships to get his ankle ready to race, and by this week the skin on his ankle had become irritated by all the glue and tape from last week. Because of it, he couldn’t tape up his ankle to ride and just used an ankle brace, which wasn’t really enough to make the ankle feel stable or secure. Nathan, meanwhile, dislocated his shoulder again on a practice run, but it popped back in, yet his knee is giving him just as much trouble after he smashed it in a crash during his race run at Fort William. Honda’s Greg Minnaar is also injured after last week’s race run crash, where he broke his scapula. Somewhat expectedly, morale was low in the Syndicate pits during the week. Nathan conceded,

“I just can‚Äôt ride properly, I‚Äôm riding like a Nana.”

Australia‚Äôs downhill coach, Paul Begg asked the guys, “Are you having a dig?” to which Rennie replied, “Yeah, but I‚Äôm using the wrong end of the shovel!” Peaty added to that comment, “Yeah, and I‚Äôm using a teaspoon.” As the practice week moved on they slowly got it together, but just weren‚Äôt even close to 100%.

On a brighter note, young Santa Cruz rider Josh Bryceland posted a stellar qualifying run, coming in 5th, and placed 9th in the final. His efforts this year earned him the junior World Cup championship overall. Josh said, “My race run wasn‚Äôt as solid as my qualifier. I was fairly nervous at the top. I set off good, and then I was cautious. I just wanted a steady run without crashing.”

Next up, Rennie goes to Budapest, Hungary to compete in the Red Bull Metro ride, and then it’s off to Interbike for the Syndicate riders.

Thanks to our sponsors, and special thanks go out to Martin the Masseur for his expert attention to guys and their injuries.

MARIBOR, SLOVAKIA
DH, 4X

Sunday Sept. 9th, 2007 Fort William, Scotland
Sam Hill’s dominance continues as he wins the downhill at the World Championships in Ft. William, Scotland.

Giving him a scare was Fabien Barel, just barely down at the split; Barel gave it all and came in just .64 behind Hill.

Great Britain fans cheered madly for Gee Atherton who earned the bronze medal.
Santa Cruz Syndicate riders Steve Peat and Nathan Rennie both ran into problems on the course.
Peat says, “About 100 yards into the course I went over the wood bridge transitioning to the dirt and the bike slipped and both my feet came off and I landed heavy on the seat and it broke off. When I rode the chair lift up the wind blew my bike badly and it was barely hanging on by the seat. I think that might have weakened the seat. The weather conditions up there were so gnarly. The wind was blowing hard. I’m really gutted.”
Rennie had a fine run going and then entering the first woods section he said, “I was going through the right, left corners and got on the pedals to put some power down and it slipped and I went straight over the bars. I was stunned at first as to what happened. I ran back up to get my bike and kept going. I just made one mistake after that. I’m really pissed about it. I had a really good run going and I was just 11 seconds back with the crash.”

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FORT WILLIAM, SCOTLAND
DH, 4X

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP DOWNHILL SEEDING RUN

MINNAAR FIRST, RENNIE 6TH, AND PEATY’S FOOT STAYS ON
FOR 13TH!

Thursday Sept. 6, 2007
Fort William, Scotland

It’s World Championship time where things get exciting and colorful. Upon arriving to Ft. William, Scotland, Santa Cruz Syndicate’s Nathan Rennie and Steve Peat were both treated to custom world championship paint jobs from the Santa Cruz factory, with the project directed by Syndicate mechanic, Doug Hatfield. Getting into the spirit of world’s, Rennie’s bike highlights the Aussie green and gold, has a boxing kangaroo on it and a cityscape silhouette on the top tube. Peaty’s bike is sporting Great Britain’s red and blue with a city of London silhouette.

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Caersws, Wales
DH