Downhill Team Roster
2013
| |||||||||||||||
2011-2012
| |||||||||||||||||||||
The team rides on the Saracen Myst downhill bike.
Saracen Cycles, known simply as "Saracen" [1] is a bicycle brand sold in the United Kingdom, Europe and Asia. Originally based in Warwick, England, the company is best known for its range of mountain bikes.
Started in 1983, Saracen was a market leader during the early 1990s. In 2009, the brand was acquired by Madison, a significant distributor of bicycles, parts and accessories [2] which in turn is part of the H. Young group of companies. Madison, based in Stanmore, Middlesex, also owns the Genesis and Ridgeback cycle brands. The Saracen brand is now operated out of Madison premises in Milton Keynes. [3]
Since being acquired by Madison the Saracen brand has undergone significant investment and development, helped in part by the formation of the Madison Saracen Downhill Team. This development-focussed team launched in 2011 and has a number of notable accolades to date including multiple World Cup podiums, a 2011 Junior World Cup winner, [4] 2011 Junior World Champion and a Bronze medal at the 2012 World Championships, [5] thanks to team rider Manon Carpenter.
Since the start of the 2012 season the Madison Saracen team has been managed by former Mountain Biking UK rider and manager, Will Longden. [6]
In January 2013 the team announced the addition of Sam Dale to the team, [7] with Manon Carpenter, Harry Molloy and Phil Atwill all staying on the team.
2013
| |||||||||||||||
2011-2012
| |||||||||||||||||||||
The team rides on the Saracen Myst downhill bike.
In its early days Saracen was the home of two of the best known UK Downhill Mountain Bikers, Matt Davis and Rob Warner.
Saracen was famous for its MAD trails display team, up until 2006 when it was sold.
UK Dirt Jumper Lance McDermott signed for Saracen in 2010 on a 3 year deal. Blake Samson joined Lance McDermott on the dirt jump team in 2012. [8] Blake is a regular fixture on the Animal Bike Tour with fellow Animal rider, Martyn Ashton.
The Cannondale Bicycle Corporation is an American division of Dutch conglomerate Pon Holdings that supplies bicycles. Its headquarters are in Wilton, Connecticut, with engineering offices in Freiburg, Germany. Frames are manufactured in Taiwan. Bikes are assembled in Taiwan, as well as in the USA and in The Netherlands for the local markets.
Trek Bicycle Corporation is a bicycle and cycling product manufacturer and distributor under brand names Trek, Electra Bicycle Company, Bontrager, and Diamant Bikes. The company has previously manufactured bikes under the Gary Fisher, LeMond Racing Cycles, Klein, and Villiger Bikes brand names. With its headquarters in Waterloo, Wisconsin, Trek bicycles are marketed through 1,700 independently owned bicycle shops across North America, subsidiaries in Europe, Asia, South Africa, as well as distributors in 90 countries worldwide. Nearly all Trek bicycles are manufactured outside the United States, in countries including the Netherlands, Germany, Taiwan, and China.
Downhill mountain biking (DH) is a style of mountain biking practiced on steep, rough terrain that often features jumps, drops, rock gardens and other obstacles. Jumps can be up to and including 12 meters, and drops can be greater than 3 meters.
SRAM LLC is a privately owned bicycle component manufacturer based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, founded in 1987. SRAM is an acronym comprising the names of its founders, Scott, Ray, sAM,. The company produces a range of internally developed cycling components, including Grip Shift, separate gravel, road, and mountain drivetrains from 7 to 12 speed. SRAM developed the eagle line of mountain bike specific drivetrain components intended to improve shifting performance. SRAM was also the first to release a dedicated "one by" drivetrain with a single front chain-ring.
Mountain bike racing is the competitive cycle sport discipline of mountain biking held on off-road terrain. The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) recognised the discipline relatively late in 1990, when it sanctioned the world championships in Durango, Colorado. The first UCI Mountain Bike World Cup series took place in 1988. Its nine-race circuit covered two continents—Europe and North America—and was sponsored by Grundig. Cross-country racing was the only World Cup sport at this time. In 1993, a six-event downhill World Cup was introduced. In 1996, cross-country mountain biking events were added to the Olympic Games. In 2006, cross-country mountain biking events became part of the World Deaf Cycling Championships for the first time in San Francisco, USA.
GT Bicycles is an American company that designs and manufactures BMX, mountain, and road bicycles. GT is a division of the Dutch conglomerate Pon Holdings, which also markets Cannondale, Schwinn, Mongoose, IronHorse, DYNO, and RoadMaster bicycle brands; all manufactured in Asia.
KHS Bicycles is a bicycle manufacturer founded in 1974 with main operations in the United States and Taiwan. Its bicycles are distributed in over 30 countries. Although KHS' main focus has been in mountain bikes, it has offerings in road bikes, folding bikes, tandem bikes, cruiser bikes, single speed bikes and BMX bikes. Some of its products have been favorably reviewed.
Rob Warner is a retired professional downhill mountain biker born in Reading, England.
Bryn Atkinson is an Australian professional mountain bike racing cyclist from Townsville, QLD. He started mountain biking in 1996 and became a professional in 2002. Bryn's first introduction to the sport was through his local mountain bike club in Townsville- The Townsville Rockwheelers. Competing in several cross country type events, Bryn evolved with the sport and later found downhill. As a teenager, he moved north to Cairns, a popular location for downhill mountain biking, and host of the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in 1996. Glen Jacobs was the course builder for that event and several other events on the World Cup, and mentored Bryn and several other downhillers in the area.
Ellsworth Handcrafted Bicycles is a bicycle manufacturer based in San Diego, CA. Founded by Tony Ellsworth in 1991, they produced a wide range of handmade bicycles made in the U.S.: mountain, road, beach cruisers, BMX, and fat bikes. The brand has gone through four ownership changes since 2014, and now focus on producing high-quality mountain bikes specifically in the genres of XC, trail, and enduro. Ellsworth also produce a designer/cruiser bike known as "The Ride"
Rachel Laura Atherton is a British professional downhill mountain bike racer, and is a multiple time UCI World Champion.
Aaron Holmes Gwin is an American professional downhill mountain biker from Morongo Valley, California. He is a five-time World Cup overall champion.
Manon Rose Carpenter is a Welsh, professional racing cyclist formerly specialising in downhill mountain bike racing.
Yeti Cycles is an American bicycle manufacturer located in Golden, Colorado.
Madison Saracen is a British-based UCI trade team, specialising in downhill mountain biking.
Enduro in its most basic definition is a type of mountain bike racing where the downhills are timed, and the uphills are mandatory but not timed. Riders are timed in stages that are primarily downhill, with neutral "transfer" stages in between. The transfer stages usually must be completed within a time-limit, but are not part of the accumulated time.
Hugo Donais is a Canadian retired cyclist who specialized in downhill mountain biking, four-cross and BMX.
Tom Rodgers was a mountain bike racer who was 21 years old when he was killed in a car crash on 14 January 2009. He was driving a Peugeot 306 which crashed into a wall and tree. He won in the Seniors category at the 2006 English DH Championships and the 2007 Senior English Champion. A Memorial Fund was set up for Rodgers and co-driver Ben Ineson to develop and help young riders in their DH (downhillers) riding. Known as the Ride in Peace Charity, it is coached by Ben Deakin with the assistance from the Pro Ride Guides Rodgers rode for All Terrain Cycles in the elite division and was said to have "forged the team’s success."
Jenna Hastings is a New Zealand mountain biker competing in downhill and enduro. She is the current junior women's downhill world champion.
YT Industries is a German mountain bike manufacturer. Founded in 2006, the company operates in a direct-to-consumer model. YT also has showrooms at their headquarters in Hausen, Germany, and "YT Mills" in San Clemente, California, and Guildford, Surrey, England, with a third location planned in Bentonville, Arkansas. With its origins in dirt jumping and freeriding, YT has expanded its lineup to include all forms of mountain biking and gravel biking.