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.
In 2014, Manon Carpenter had the season of her life and won the World Cup overall and the World Championships. The team was split in two. A factory race team would contest the biggest races spearheaded by Carpenter, Dale and new signing Matt Simmonds.
Alongside the factory team a development team was launched.
Following the split the team had its most successful season as Carpenter won the world cup series overall and the world championships.
A second-place from Simmonds at the final world cup of the season was enough to place the team third in the end-of-series standings.
In 2015 the Madison Saracen factory retained the services of Simmonds, Carpenter and Dale.
After a tumultuous start to the season, Carpenter would recover to finish second overall in the world cup and take silver at the world championships.
In December 2015 Madison Saracen announced its new roster and the signing of Marc Beaumont.
But it was junior Matt Walker who would make the biggest impact, with his first world cup win coming in Cairns.
In December 2016 Carpenter departed the team, with Alex Marin joining the line-up and the standalone development team re-launching.
Matt Walker won his second junior world cup, before going on to win the World Championships in Cairns, Australia.
In January 2018, the team announced their new line-up, with Danny Hart joining Alex Marin and Matt Walker. The high-profile signing of two-time World Champion Danny Hart would go onto earn several podium results as well as the team’s first Elite Men’s World Cup win at Snowshoe in 2019.
At the final round of the 2019 season Danny Hart produced one of the rides of the year to win Madison Saracen’s first Men’s Elite World Cup in Snowshoe. That ride would ultimately determine who won the overall World Cup series that year in a race that has gone down in history.
In 2020 Matt Walker became the overall UCI Downhill World Cup Champion. He secured his title by consistently performing well throughout the season, finishing 4th, 3rd, 2nd and 3rd in the four UCI World Cup rounds.
During the 2021 and 2022 season junior rider Jordan Williams won multiple World Cups and became junior World Champion in 2022 in Les Gets.
To follow up on his outstanding World Cup Overall victory Matt Walker would go onto win his first World Cup in Leogang in June 2022 to further establish himself as one of the fastest mountain bikers on the planet. Now, the Madison Saracen Factory Race Team is made up of Matt Walker and Greg Williamson who race in the Elite Men’s category as well as George Madley who competes in the Junior Men’s category. The team are working hard to get some more top results in 2024 with the all British line-up of Matt Walker, Greg Williamson and George Madley. The Madison Saracen Development Team is also managed by former racer Matt Simmonds and is made up of two young rider, Olivia Taylor and Felix Griffiths.
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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.
John Tomac is an American former professional cyclist who competed from 1985 to 2005. He was a versatile rider who competed in multiple disciplines including; BMX racing, cross-country, road racing, trials riding and downhill racing. Tomac became a mountain bike racing icon in the late 1980s as the sport began to develop beyond its formative years. At the time of his retirement in 2005, he had won more mountain bike races than anyone in the sport. In 1991 he was inducted into the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame and, in 2004 he was inducted into the United States Bicycling Hall of Fame.
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.
Greg Minnaar is a South African World Champion mountain bike racer competing in downhill cycling. He has won four world championships, the second most amongst still active racers, and third all time behind Nicolas Vouilloz's seven titles. He currently competes in the UCI Downhill MTB World Cup. Minnaar has the most men's world cup wins, with 23 career victories. He rode with the Santa Cruz Syndicate team until the end of the 2023 season.
Rob Warner is a retired professional downhill mountain biker born in Reading, England.
George David Atherton, known as Gee Atherton is a British professional racing cyclist specializing in downhill and four cross mountain bike racing, and is a multiple national champion, multiple World Cup winner, and 2008 & 2014 Downhill World Champion. He is also a rally driver and competed in his first International event in 2017 at Wales Rally GB.
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.
The Santa Cruz Syndicate, is a professional mountain bike racing team sponsored by Santa Cruz Bicycles, competing in the World Cup and World Championships, as well as national level events, in the downhill category. The Syndicate was founded in 2006.
Danny Hart is a British downhill mountain biker who currently rides for Cube Factory Racing. He won the 2011 and 2016 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships.
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.
Anton Cooper is a New Zealand cross-country cyclist who races for the Trek Factory Racing XC Team. He is the 2015 World Under 23 Cross-country Mountain bike champion and the 2012 World Junior Cross-country Mountain bike champion. One of the two contenders for the country's 2016 Summer Olympics quota spot, he developed chronic fatigue earlier in 2016 and the nomination went to Sam Gaze instead. Cooper represented New Zealand at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, finishing sixth in the Men's Cross-country Mountain Bike final.
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.
Hugo Donais is a Canadian retired cyclist who specialized in downhill mountain biking, four-cross and BMX.
Troy Brosnan is an Australian professional racing cyclist specialising in downhill mountain bike racing. As a junior, he was twice world champion, once Oceanian champion, and once Australian national champion in the downhill. In the elite category he has twice been third overall in the world cup and is a eight-time Australian champion.
Loris Vergier is a French downhill mountain bike rider. As a Junior, he won first place at the 2014 UCI Downhill Mountain World Championships.
Valentina "Vali" Höll is an Austrian cyclist who competes in downhill mountain biking.
Amaury Pierron is a French downhill mountain biker. In 2019, he finished third in the UCI Downhill World Championships in Mont-Sainte-Anne, Canada. He also won three rounds and the overall classification of the 2018 UCI Downhill World Cup. In the 2019 edition, he again won three rounds but finished second overall to Loïc Bruni. His older brother Baptiste and his younger brother Antoine also compete in downhill racing.
Jenna Hastings is a New Zealand mountain biker competing in downhill and enduro. She is the current junior women's downhill world champion.
