Madison Saracen started as a development team for young British mountain bike riders back in 2011 and has seen great DH success over the years with the likes of Manon Carpenter, Matt Walker and Jordan Williams being amongst the most successful and well-known riders to come out of the program.
For 2023, Madison Saracen is bringing back its Development Team and aims to nurture and progress the fledgling careers of their three latest signings. With the hope they can follow in the footsteps of Carpenter, Walker and Williams and become National Champions, World Cup winners and World Champions.
For 2023, George Madley will be racing in Youth, Felix Griffiths as a first-year Youth and Liv Taylor who will be first-year Juvenile in the Madison Saracen team and all three riders will receive support in the form of product, mechanic assistance, advice, coaching and race weekend preparation. They will also be managed by former World Cup and Madison Saracen factory rider Matt Simmonds, whose experience and knowledge will be invaluable to these young riders.
Matt said: “I am so excited to be a part of this program to develop upcoming young UK talent. Having experienced the level of support Madison provides and seen the success of the likes of Jordan [Williams], I’m super confident we can achieve something similar and can’t wait for the team to get stuck into the new season.”
Jordan Williams is one of the success stories of the development team, with the 18-year-old winning the Downhill Mountain Bike World Championship in the junior men's category, in Les Gets, France last season. He will ride the World Cup season in the rainbow jersey and defend his title on home soil at the Fort William World Championships later this year in Scotland.
21-year-old Matt Walker is another graduate of the team and progressed to riding for the Madison Saracen Factory Racing Team where he became only the fourth British rider to win the overall UCI Downhill World Cup series in 2020. He has also been involved in the testing and development of the all-new Saracen downhill range as well as providing feedback on their latest enduro offering the Saracen Ariel.
It's an exciting move for Madison Saracen and we look forward to following the progress of George, Felix and Liv as they set out on their journey. Keep an eye open at Saracen and Madison Saracen team social channels for updates about the riders as well as where they will be racing over the course of the year.
