Madison Genesis was a British-based professional road cycling team, registered at UCI Continental level and competing in domestic and European competitions between 2013 and 2019.
Founded in 2013, the team was announced in July 2012[1] as a platform for developing UK road cycling talent. Team manager Roger Hammond stated[2] that the team's success would be judged on how many riders progress on to the next level of UCI Professional Continental or World Tour racing.
The team announced it would cease racing at the end of the 2019 season.[5]
History
Formation
Brainchild of Madison CEO Dominic Langan, Madison Genesis was born in early 2012. Langan enlisted the advice of consultant Anthony McCrossan to help set up the team. Roger Hammond was chosen as team manager when McCrossan and Madison marketing director Kellie Parsons met. They exchanged folded pieces of paper – both containing the name of their preferred choice for the role – both reading Hammond.[6]
Team progression
Hammond was hired and ten riders were signed to compete in the 2013 season. In year one the team would finish second at the Tour Series, with wins for Ian Bibby at the London Nocturne and Dean Downing at the Beaumont Trophy. Ahead of 2014, Hammond expressed how changes in personnel would improve the squad.
“What we have tried to do is introduce more riders, add more versatility in the team with more strength in-depth so that we can rotate the core of the team within the rotation of the team. So now we can have two rotations; the core of the team and the whole of the team. Hopefully, with that we can then balance motivation, form and racing at the right time".[7]
Another second place at the Tour Series in 2014 was supplemented with a stage win at the An Post Ras for Liam Holohan, while Alex Peters won the under-23 general classification at the same race.
In 2015 Madison Genesis enjoyed its strongest season, which culminated in winning the Pearl Izumi Tour Series – along with Erick Rowsell taking eighth in the Tour de Yorkshire. Hammond's analysis revealed a team on the up.
"If we look at the goals we really went for – the Tour de Normandie, Tour de Yorkshire and Tour Series – then we can be really pleased. To be just three seconds off the overall win in Normandie was a really good start for us. "We then managed to be pretty competitive at the Tour de Yorkshire, and to get a top ten on GC in its first year was a really impressive result for us. "Even with bad luck in the final week of the Tour Series we’ve managed to hold on. We could have done without the bad luck but I’m really pleased to have won.”[8]
Madison Genesis finished 2015 wearing the King of the Mountains jersey for three stages of the Tour of Britain, which produced a memorable battle until the final climb, where Hammond sent the entire squad to the front of the peloton, to chase the breakaway and try to regain the jersey.[9]
In 2016, it was announced that Hammond would become a sports director at World Tour team Dimension Data - but would continue to act as a consultant to Madison Genesis. Mark Cavendish's CVNDSH Scholarship would support Madison Genesis riders with training and tactical advice.[10]
Ex-team rider Mike Northey would transition to become Madison Genesis team manager in May 2016,[11] after being forced to retire following the diagnosis of a heart virus earlier that year.[12]
On the road, the team remained at the forefront of the British domestic scene, with Tom Stewart recording wins at the Lincoln GP, Velothon Wales and GP of Wales. Gruffudd Lewis wore the Best British Rider jersey at the Tour de Yorkshire while also scoring 2nd at the Cicle Classic 1.2, Tobyn Horton scored a top-ten position at RideLondon, while Erick Rowsell survived in the breakaway to finish third on stage five of the Tour of Britain.
In 2017 the team signed four new riders - Alex Paton, Johnny McEvoy, Rich Handley and Connor Swift - with Tristan Robbins, Felix English and Tom Stewart departing.
Connor Swift scored all three of the team's victories, with two coming at the Tour Series and one at the Leicester Castle Classic.
After the 2017 Tour of Britain, Mike Northey stepped down from his role as team manager to return home to his family in New Zealand.
In October 2017, Colin Sturgess was named as the team's new manager[13] and five new signings were announced. George Atkins, Mike Cuming, Isaac Mundy, George Pym and Neil van der Ploeg all joined the 12-rider squad.
Success followed with Johnny McEvoy winning the Spring Cup series and Connor Swift becoming British national road race champion and winning the Wales Open Crit.
In October 2018, it was announced that Sturgess would depart the team, and Roger Hammond would return as manager.[14]
In 2019 the team enjoyed success with Connor Swift and Joey Walker taking individual Tour Series victories, Ian Bibby winning the Lancaster GP and Matt Holmes winning the Manx International, finishing sixth at the Tour de Yorkshire and the best placed British rider at the Tour of Britain, with 15th overall.
The team announced it would cease racing at the end of the 2019 season.[5]
Bikes
In 2013 and 2014 Madison Genesis exclusively rode steel Genesis Volare bikes.[16]
The team also had the choice of using the new carbon Genesis Zero frames for the 2014 Tour of Britain,[17] with an updated version of the Zero launched for the team at the 2015 Tour of Britain.[18]
A prototype bike appeared under Connor Swift at the 2017 Leicester Castle Classic[19] - this was confirmed as the Genesis Zero SL, which the team raced throughout 2018.
Riders choose between carbon and steel bikes "dependant on the race and terrain faced."[20]
Roger Hammond is a male English retired bicycle racer, specialising in cyclo-cross and road cycling.
Alex James Peters is an English cyclist, who last rode for UCI Continental team Ribble Weldtite. Peters previously rode professionally between 2013 and 2017 for the Madison Genesis, Team Sky and SEG Racing Academy teams.
Benjamin Ian Swift is a British professional track and road racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam Ineos Grenadiers. Swift won the scratch race at the 2012 UCI Track Cycling World Championships and the men's elite road race at the 2019 and 2021 British National Road Race Championships. His cousin, Connor Swift, is also an English professional road racing cyclist, and the 2018 British champion.
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Erick Rowsell is a British former professional road racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2012 and 2019 for the Endura Racing, NetApp–Endura, and Madison Genesis teams. He now works as the Elite Road Racing Manager for British Cycling, having previously been a member of their Olympic Development Programme as an endurance rider.
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Katie Archibald, is an elite Scottish and British racing cyclist, specialising in endurance track cycling events in which she represents Great Britain and Scotland.
Jonathan McEvoy is a British former racing cyclist. As well as an accomplished road rider he is also a specialist in cyclo-cross and those skills almost certainly helped him obtain a top 100 finish at the 2014 Paris–Roubaix.
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Ian Michael Bibby is a British former professional road and cyclo-cross cyclist from England, who rode professionally between 2009 and 2019. He was the winner of the 2010 British National Cyclo-cross Championships, and the 2015 British National Circuit Race Championships.
Michael James Northey is a New Zealand former racing cyclist. He competed for New Zealand at the 2014 Commonwealth Games. In April 2016 Northey announced his retirement from competition due to heart damage he suffered after contracting a virus. After his retirement he remained with his final team Madison Genesis, initially in the role of Assistant Team Manager before being promoted to Team Manager. He left the team in 2017 in order to move back to New Zealand with his family.
Thomas Pidcock is a British cyclist who currently competes in the cyclo-cross, mountain bike and road bicycle racing disciplines of the sport for UCI WorldTeam Ineos Grenadiers.
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