Aged just 15, this super-talented Welsh MTB and BMX rider stepped things up massively this season and even earned a wildcard entry to Dirt Wars UK
Is it a cop-out to award our Lifetime Achievement gong to three people? Perhaps! But it’s hard to separate these siblings, whose lives and fortunes are so intertwined. Over the past 20-plus years, they’ve helped cement the UK’s position on the MTB world stage, bring the sport to a bigger audience and push the boundaries of downhill racing. In 2023 alone, they’ve proven themselves between the race tape, on the slopes of Utah and in the risks they’ve taken running their businesses.
Speedy siblings
The Athertons’ MTB story starts in 1999, when they switched from BMX to DH. Older brother Dan is now best known as a trail builder, but by 2001, he and middle sibling Gee (George) were dominating their age groups in the Dragon DH Series, joined by sister Rachel. In ’02, the boys began racing World Cups. Dan was an amazing rider – his top result in DH being a second-place finish in ’03 – but Gee proved the better racer, taking silver at the Junior DH World Championships in ’02 and ’03, then winning his first of eight World Cups as an Elite in ’04. He’d go on to clinch two World Champs titles, too (’08 and ’14). Meanwhile, Dan notched up several podiums in 4X – including a victory in Andorra in ’08, where Gee and Rach made it an Atherton triple by winning both DH races.
By that point, Rach, too, had become a serious podium threat. After narrowly missing out on Junior World Champs victory in ’04, she clinched the title in ’05, won a World Cup as a first-year Elite in ’06 and by ’08 was leading the series. With a total of 39 World Cup wins, six World Champs titles and an unbeaten season in 2016, she absolutely dominated women’s racing from the mid-’00s onwards, and there’s a strong argument for her being the greatest racer of all time. She’s also inspired countless girls and women to ride bikes.
Life beyond racing
By the early 2010s, Dan’s focus had drifted towards enduro, where he enjoyed some success. Then trail building took over – first the gnarly Red Bull Hardline track, then the brilliant Dyfi Bike Park, near his home in Mid Wales. Gee, meanwhile, has remained
