On the press day at iceBike*, the Madison Saracen downhill team was unveiled to a packed room of MTB media, sponsors, dealers and VIPs. The new squad is a development team made up of six riders, all under the age of 21.
The new 6 rider Team which includes WC champion Manon Carpenter, Elite WC racer Harry Molloy, UK 2010 Expert winner Jack Geoghegan, English Champ Phillip Atwill, PORC series winner Josh Lowe and UK 2010 Juvenile winner Will Weston.
Harry Molloy, 19, from Kent, also had success on the world circuit in 2010, with a 35th place at Leogang being his top result. They’re joined by reigning national Expert champ Jack Geoghegan, 20, from Hertfordshire; English champ Philip Atwill, 16, from Hampshire; PORC series winner Josh Lowe, 16, from Kent; and 14-year-old Will Weston, from Wolverhampton, winner of the Juvenile category of the 2010 Halo British Downhill Series.
Madison’s CEO Dominic Langan said: “The first year is mainly a development squad, with a couple of people riding the World Cup series. It’s a minimum three-year program, and hopefully we’ll be doing much more beyond that – the aim is to get more riders into the World Cup series. We hope to build that up, and hopefully we can get some champions. We just want to get good British riders out there.”
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| The 2011 Madison/Saracen downhill team with 2011 team spec Saracen Myst |
The red team-issue Saracen Myst may have the same frame as the £2,300 production bike, but it’s decked out with some much fancier kit, including a Fox 40 RC2 fork and DHX RC4 shock, Shimano Saint bits and Funn finishing kit. The squad may be young but they’ll have full factory support, with a massive team truck, their own mechanic and coaching.
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| This is the 2011 Team issue Saracen Myst downhill bike with Fox suspension, Shimano Saint bits and Funn Finishing kit |
First race for the team will be the first round of the BDS at Nant Gwrtheyrn on March 20th so come along and say hello!
bad times 
