Dan Atherton

Daniel Simon Atherton, known as Dan Atherton (born 25 January 1982, near Salisbury), is a professional racing cyclist specialising in downhill, four cross and enduro-downhill mountain bike racing, and is a former national champion of Great Britain. He began riding BMX at the age of 15 and mountain biking a year later.

From 2007 till 2011, Atherton was one third of the Animal Commençal racing team, alongside brother Gee Atherton and sister Rachel Atherton.

He is now part of the Trek Factory Racing team with brother Gee, sister Rachel and old friend Marc Beaumont (Global Mountain Bike Network), and is primarily racing Enduro-downhill and occasional downhill races.

Dan Atherton, along with Rachel and Gee, was the star of the web series The Atherton Project, which followed their day-to-day lives.

In 2010 Atherton broke a vertebra in his neck whilst dirt jumping and has missed half of the season including the World Championships.

After the 2012 season's end, Atherton won the Asia Pacific Downhill Challenge in Indonesia.

Palmarès

 * 2004
 * 1st 4X, British National Mountain Biking Championships


 * 2003
 * 2nd DH, UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, Round 3


 * 2006
 * 4th 4X, UCI Mountain Bike & Trials World Championships
 * 4th DH, European Mountain Bike Championships
 * 4th 4X, UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, Round 6


 * 2007
 * 10th DH, UCI Mountain Bike & Trials World Championships, Fort William
 * 9th 4X, UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, Round 3, St Anne
 * 3rd 4X, UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, Round 5, Maribor
 * 2nd Irish National Championships, Rostrevor
 * 2nd NPS DH, Round 3, Moelfre
 * 6th NPS DH, Round 4, Caersws
 * 6th NPS DH, Round 5, Innerliethan
 * 4th Fat Face Night Race
 * 4th Red Bull Metro Ride
 * 3rd Urban Pro, Paris


 * 2008
 * 1st 4X, UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, Vallnord, Andorra
 * 2nd Maxxis Cup, Gouveia, Portugal