Madison Saracen

Madison Saracen
Team information
UCI code	MAD
Registered	United Kingdom
Founded	2011
Discipline(s)	MTB
Status	UCI mountain bike team
Bicycles	Saracen
Key personnel
General manager	Will Longden
	[[File:MST Kit\|center\|100px\|Madison Saracen jersey]]Jersey
	[[File:MST Kit\|center\|100px\|Madison Saracen jersey]]Jersey

Madison Saracen is a British-based UCI trade team, specialising in downhill mountain biking.

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In 2018 the team announced the signing of two-time world champion Danny Hart.

Founded in 2011, the team achieved great success with Manon Carpenter and later Matt Walker.

Carpenter became junior UCI Mountain Bike Downhill World Champion in the team’s debut season, before going on to take the senior titles of the UCI Mountain Bike Downhill World Cup and World Championships in 2014.

Walker became junior UCI Mountain Bike Downhill World Champion in 2017.

In 2018 the team made the high-profile signing of two-time World Champion Danny Hart who would go onto earn several podium results as well as the team’s first Elite Men’s World Cup win at Snowshoe in 2019.

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 Madison Saracen Development Team is also managed by former racer Matt Simmonds and is made up of two young riders, Olivia Taylor and Felix Griffiths.

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Formation

Launched in 2011 the team’s aspiration was clearly laid out by Madison CEO Dominic Langan.^[1]

“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.”

Team progression

Manon Carpenter took the team’s first major win at the junior world championships in Champery, Switzerland.^[2]

The win was followed by the appointment of Tim Flooks as team manager in November 2011, but he was forced to stand down soon after due to health problems.^[3]

In February 2012, Will Longden took the position of team manager.^[4]

Longden – himself a four-time British champion in downhill, fourcross and dual slalom – took the reins of the team following a period of time coaching the MBUK development squad. He was also British Cycling’s rider representative for downhill mountain biking.

In 2012 Manon Carpenter took the team’s first world cup and world championship podium results.

Longden strengthened the team in 2013 signing Sam Dale, as Carpenter visited the world cup podium in five out of six rounds.

By 2014 the team was split in two. A factory race team would contest the biggest races spearheaded by Carpenter, Dale and new signing Matt Simmonds.^[5]

Alongside the factory team a development team was launched.^[6]

Following the split the team had its most successful season as Carpenter won the world cup series overall^[7] and the world championships.^[8]

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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2024

Factory Racing Team