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Meet The Riders
11
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Greg Minnaar |
Tom Boonen |
Lizzie Deignan |
Evie Richards |
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Greg is currently the most prolific winner among male professional downhill mountain bike racers , with 23 world cup career victories . He is four x Downhill world champion ( 2003 , 2012 , 2013 , 2021 ), three x Downhill World Cup champion ( 2001 , 2005 , 2008 ); he has achieved 21 Downhill World Cup victories and 77 Downhill World Cup podiums . Greg also has 10 Downhill World Championship medals ( 3 x gold ; 4 x silver ; 3 x bronze ).
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Tom won the 2005 UCI Word Road Race Championships . The Belgian Classics star was a single-day road specialist with a strong finishing sprint which helped win him cycling monuments Paris – Roubaix and the Tour of Flanders four and three times respectively , alongside six Tour de France stage wins and many other prestigious victories over a professional career spanning 17 seasons .
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One of Britain ’ s most promising MTB and cyclocross stars , Evie is the current MTB XCO World Champion . Her talent doesn ’ t stop there , having been the first-ever U23 women ’ s Cyclocross World Champion , grabbing the rainbow stripes in her first international cyclocross event in January 2016 , winning the title once again in 2018 .
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Matt Stephens |
Matt is a former road racing cyclist , who rode as a professional between 1998 and 2011 and won the British National Road Race Championships in 1998 . Nowadays , Matt is a regular TV commentator and pundit , ambassador for Zwift and Sigma Sports , and confidant of legendary Belgian team manager Kenny van Vlaminck .
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Geoff Thomas
Tour 21 Ambassador and Cure Leukaemia Patron
Former professional footballer , Geoff Thomas was capped nine times for England , captained Crystal Palace in their 1990 FA Cup Final and made over 450 club appearances for Palace , Wolves , Nottingham Forest , Crewe , Rochdale , Barnsley and Notts County . He was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia in 2003 , a year after he retired from football . After successfully battling the disease , Geoff started raising money for his own cancer charity and hasn ’ t looked back since . He ’ s ridden the full Tour de France route on five occasions and helped set up The Tour 21 which last year raised over £ 1 million for Cure Leukaemia . Geoff was made an MBE in the Queen ’ s Birthday Honours in June 2021 for his charity work . He ’ ll be joined at the show by two of the Tour 21 riders , Sarah Hope and Mark Palmer .
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David Millar |
David is a former professional road cyclist , winning stages in all three Grand Tours during his 18 year career . The Scot now resides in Girona and is a popular television commentator on the Tour and the Vuelta with fellow host Ned Boulting and the two also present the excellent Never Strays Far podcast . After returning to racing following a two-year ban in 2004 , he became one of the sport ’ s most vocal antidoping campaigners , helping younger riders to avoid the pitfalls common in the 1980 / 90s . Post racing , he took up a role as a GB coach , representative for the CPA and continues to campaign on behalf of riders in the peloton . The clothing and accessories brand CHPT3 he co-created in 2015 has built a strong following in the road cycling community and continues to innovate on collaborations with the likes of Brompton , Brooks and POC .
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Lizzie started her career on the track , switching to the road from 2009 onwards and forged a place as one of the sport ’ s greatest-ever one day riders with superb wins in the World Road Race Championships in 2015 and classics like the Tour of Flanders , Strade Bianche , and the GP de Plouay-Bretagne . The Yorkshire rider also captured the nation ’ s heart when she became the first British athlete to win a medal – silver – at the London Olympics in 2012 . After taking time out to be a mum to new daughter Orla , Lizzie returned to the Trek-Segafredo team in 2019 and the years that followed rank among Lizzie ’ s best . She added wins in La Course by Le Tour de France and Liège-Bastogne-Liège and finished first in the UCI Women ’ s World Tour individual rankings . In 2021 , Lizzie used her sprinting ability to win the two-day Tour de Suisse , and finished the season by writing a page in cycling ’ s history , with a dominant victory in the first-ever Paris-Roubaix Femmes .
Ben Deakin
Focus Bikes Team Rider
Ben Deakin alias The Deakinator is a former Royal Marine Commando who was injured in the line of duty is now a professional Mountain Bike rider and content creator alongside fellow Focus athlete and podcast cohort Olly Wilkins . He received his first hardtail MTB at the age of 12 years old and immediately caught the bug . That fateful day lead to him racing Elite Downhill and now riding his bike all around the globe and creating content and films about it . His passion for always trying to be the fastest means you might still see him at the odd downhill or enduro race as well ! Give Deaks two wheels , no matter what kind , a couple of mates and he will have the best time possible – his happiness is contagious .
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Ned Boulting
Ned Boulting readily admits to being thrown in the deep end when it came to cycling punditry as he ’ d previously been ensconced in the world of midweek Champions League football and the occasional darts tournament . But footy ’ s loss was definitely cycling ’ s gain as Ned soon became one of the best-loved voices in the sport . He has covered every Tour de France since 2003 , and his partnership with long-time commentary cohort David Millar is one of the reasons why millions of fans tune in for three weeks of cycling ambrosia every summer . While he continues to write books , record podcasts and present on TV , he also edits The Road Book – road racing ’ s mammoth almanack – as well as hosting a series of hugely successful one-man stage tours . According to his agent he is a living , breathing encyclopaedia for cycling .
Phil Cavell
Lauded bike-fitter Phil runs the renowned Cyclefit in Covent Garden , London , and has worked on hundreds of custom-fit bikes over several decades . Along with Cyclefit co-founder Julian Wall , Phil ’ s aim is to develop and understand the relationship between body and bike , helping older riders or those who are recovering from injuries to get back out there and ride . He also wrote the acclaimed book The Midlife Cyclist , which shows how riders over 40 can train harder and use cycling as a basis to improve their lives .
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