Introduction
George David Atherton, known as Gee Atherton (born 26 February 1985, near Salisbury, England) is a professional racing cyclist specialising 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.
Career
From 2007 to 2011, Gee was one third of the Animal Commençal racing team, alongside brother Dan Atherton and sister Rachel Atherton. In 2012 the Athertons started riding for team GT Factory Racing, along with Marc Beaumont.
Gee, along with Rachel and Dan, is the star of the web series "The Atherton Project" a series which follows their day-to-day lives. In 2012 Gee was racing for GT racing.
In the 2012 season, Gee finished 3rd overall to Greg Minnaar and American world cup winner Aaron Gwin. At the world championships in Leogang Austria Gee finished 2nd by 0.58 of a second to Greg Minnaar.
He was pre-qualified for the world-renowned 2012 Red Bull Rampage in Utah but after a major crash in practice was unable to compete.
Gee appeared on the BBC's Top Gear (series 7), racing a Renault Clio down the streets of Lisbon and winning.
Palmarès
- 2000
- 3rd DH, British National Mountain Biking Championships - Youth
- 2001
- 1st DH, British National Mountain Biking Championships - Youth
- 2002
- 1st DH, British National Mountain Biking Championships - Junior
- 2003
- 1st DH, British National Mountain Biking Championships - Junior
- 2004
- 1stDH, UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, Round 3, Schladming, Austria
- 1st DH, British National Mountain Biking Championships
- 2nd FR, Red Bull Rampage
- 2007
- 1st DH, European Mountain Bike Championships
- 3rd DH, UCI Mountain Bike & Trials World Championships, Fort William
- 1st4X, UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, Round 1, Vigo, Spain
- 6th DH, UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, Round 1, Vigo, Spain
- 2nd DH, UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, Round 4, Schladming
- 2nd DH, UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, Round 5, Maribor
- 4th NPS DH, Round 3, Moelfre
- 1st NPS DH, Round 4, Caersws
- 1st NPS DH, Round 5, Innerleithen
- 1st Fat Face Night Race
- 1st Red Bull Metro Ride
- 1st Red Bull Goldmine
- 2nd Urban Pro, Paris
- 2008
- 1stDH, UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, Round 2, Vallnord, Andorra
- 1st Maxxis Cup, Gouveia, Portugal
- 1st Alpine Bikes Winter Series, Scotland
- 1st DH, Monster Energy Garbanzo Downhill, Kokanee Crankworx, Whistler, Canada
- 1st NPS round 1 Ae (Scotland)
- 1stDH, UCI Mountain Bike & Trials World Championships, Trentino, Italy
- 2009
- 1st UK National Champs DH Innerleithen , Scotland
- 2010
- 2ndDH, UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, Round 1, Maribor , Slovenia
- 1stDH, UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, Round 2, Fort William, Scotland
- 2ndDH, UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, Round 3, Leogang , Austria
- 1stDH, UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, Round 4, Champery, Switzerland
- 3rdDH, UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, Round 5, Val di Sole, Italy
- 1stDH, UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, Round 6, Windham, United States
- 1stDH, UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, Overall
- 2nd FR, Redbull Rampage
- 2011
- 3rd DH, UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, Round 1, Pietermaritzburg , South Africa
- 4th DH, UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, Round 2, Fort William, Scotland
- 2nd DH, UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, Round 3, Leogang , Austria
- 2nd DH, UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, Round 6, La Bresse , France
- 5th DH, UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, Overall
- 2012
- 4th DH, UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, Round 1, Pietermaritzburg , South Africa
- 2nd DH, 2012 UCI Mountain Bike & Trials World Championships, Leogang-Saalfelden, Austria
- 2013
- 1st DH, UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, Round 1, Fort William, Scotland
- 1st DH, UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, Round 2, Val Di Sole, Italy
- 2nd DH, UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, Overall
- 2014
- 1st DH, 2014 UCI Mountain Bike & Trials World Championships, Hafjell, Norway