May 19, 2007

Lisbon, Portugal

What can we say other than Steve Peat rules the
downhill in Lisbon, should be voted for mayor of the
town at the very least! Peaty wins the downhill in
Lisbon for the 6th year in a row, obliterating the
nearest competitor by 2.624 seconds, and that is
teammate, Nathan Rennie. If you could say this was a
great romp for the Santa Cruz Syndicate, you would be
correct. It was brilliant that Santa Cruz Bicycles
owner, Rob Roskopp was on site to witness the
brilliant moves of his team into first and second
place at this amazing downtown race!

The lead up into this event following the World Cup
race in Vigo, Spain, just last weekend was one of
relaxation and training. After Vigo, many of the top
racers went to the sleepy town of Lousa, Portugal, to
relax and train before heading south to Lisbon for the
annual Lisbon Downtown Race. Riding tourist bikes to
the riverside watering hole, Nathan Rennie and the
Syndicate staff enjoyed the day relaxing with the
Honda Team. The next day was spent shuttling downhill
runs on the awesome local track, with many of the
local mountain bike fans in awe of their heroes coming
t honor their home track.

On to Lisbon, where Friday was spent having a
leisurely day at the beachside town of Cascais,
Portugal.

It all happens on Saturday at the Lisbon Downtown
with practice, qualifier, and race all on the day.
With the ladies watching out their windows peeping
through their laundry, and dogs running amuck, Steve
Peat posted the fastest qualifying run at 1:42.29.
Greg Minnaar was second at 1:43.23 in second, back of
the ace of this course at 1:43.90. Santa Cruz
Syndicate rider Nathan Rennie had a solid run coming
in third with a 1;43.90. Peat said he really didn’t
think it felt like a great run, and Rennie said he
over braked in a lot of places and both concur that
you learn something each and every run on this course.

The final was a huge buildup as the qualifiers were
run in reverse order and the Syndicate riders were
stacked at the top. Filip Polc was in the hot-throne
as Rennie blasted in with a 1:42.282, unseating Polc.
Basking in the 6 minutes of glory until teammate Steve
Peat comes down the course, as the amazing tactician
maneuvered his way through the cobbles to blast into
first place, yet again, besting Rennie’s time by 2.624
seconds. Santa Cruz Syndicate is stoked to rule
Lisbon with a first and second place finish at this
prestigious downtown race!!

The master, Steve Peat says, “I smoked Nathan by
2.642983853 seconds on a one minute track! And I
dedicate this win to Rob and Lepa. The boys did good
cuz they had the three b’s leading up to this race
(beach, beer, bikes…).

Rennie says, “ I’m quite happy with my run, although I
crashed 3 times….hold on….no…that’s only the number of
seconds Steve beat me by! I’m 3000 euros happier and
it makes up for last week in Vigo!”

The boys head off to Ae Forest in Scotland next week
for the NPS British National, then Wheels of Speed in
Germany.

Thanks to our sponsors:

Santa Cruz Bicycles

SRAM

Rock Shox

Truvativ

Avid

Kenda

DT Swiss

WTB

Crankbrothers

Lizard Skins

Clif Bar

Troy Lee Designs

Chris King

Five Ten

Final top five:

1: Steve Peat: 1:39.658 SANTA CRUZ SYNDICATE

5: Matti Lehikoinen 1:42.563

Kathy Sessler

Santa Cruz Syndicate

Team Manager

What can we say other than Steve Peat rules the
downhill in Lisbon, should be voted for mayor of the
town at the very least! Peaty wins the downhill in
Lisbon for the 6th year in a row, obliterating the
nearest competitor by 2.624 seconds, and that is
teammate, Nathan Rennie. If you could say this was a
great romp for the Santa Cruz Syndicate, you would be
correct. It was brilliant that Santa Cruz Bicycles
owner, Rob Roskopp was on site to witness the
brilliant moves of his team into first and second
place at this amazing downtown race!