After 16 years together, Greg Minnaar's name was synonymous with that of the Santa Cruz Syndicate, but in a move that surprised everyone this off-season, even Minnaar himself, the Syndicate let go the 42-year-old South African. That left the four-time world champion scrambling to find a ride for 2024 mid-October in a year where budgets were tight.

While the past several months have been anything but restful, you don't win 23 World Cups without being a hard worker and Minnaar has signed a three-year contract with Norco Bicycles and has been able to pull together a team at the eleventh hour that sounds more than promising. Minnaar will be racing alongside Gracey Hemstreet and Lucas Cruz this season, but his main focus will be setting up the processes and people to turn Norco Factory Racing into a future-proofed, race-winning team and continue to direct the team beyond his eventual retirement.

Sarah sat down with Minnaar yesterday to talk about the team he's formed for 2024, riding Norco's prototype bike, and what his goals are for the coming years. The podcast is above if you'd like to listen to our conversation. Alternatively, a transcript is below.