Rachel, Gee and Dan Atherton have just signed a 2 year deal to keep them riding Commencal frames. The deal sees Team Animal Commencal renamed Team Commencal.  Between them the family has two senior World Championship jerseys from 2008 but they suffered a difficlt season in 2009 with Rachel out injured for the entire season.

Team Commencal formerly included Cedric Gracia but with his departure at the end of last season the way was opened to rebrand the Athertons under the Commencal name.  The Atherton Project series shot by Clay Porter will continue in 2010 with the first episode apparantly being edited as I type.

The Atherton siblings will be chasing World titles aboard Commencal ’s race proven bikes, the ‘Supreme DH’ and the ‘Absolut 4X Ti’.

Max Commencal commented, “After these past three years spent together, I would first like to thank Madison, our UK distributor, for all the work they have done with this exceptional team. Without them, this story might never have been started. Today we have reached a new level with the Atherton clan, with their intense passion for riding and huge motivation to win.
Rachel is almost rabid-like in her determination, Gee is more of a missile then ever, and Dan is going to surprise us once again. Together we have numerous projects planned, on both a sporting and technological level. We’re going to enjoy ourselves even more and help move the industry that we love those extra few steps forward“.

The Atherton Team Manager, Dan Brown, added, “Having worked with Commencal closely over the past three seasons we were in no doubt that we wanted them to continue supplying our frames after the contract came to a close in 2009. Max and Commencal agreed with our decision and were happy to extend their commitment into the position of title sponsor”.

“The signing of this two-year contract enables us to embark on new and exciting projects which will fuse the Atherton’s wealth of riding knowledge together with the great development skills and resources of Commencal . These projects will give Dan, Gee and Rachel everything they need to win on the World stage irrelevant of discipline. The whole team at Atherton Racing is excited to get the season under way and can’t wait for the first race under the Team Commencal banner.”

The team continues its partnerships with Fox Racing Shox, Animal and Shimano who will provide the other pieces of the bikes.  While Animal has been dropped from the title the team remains heavily sponsored through the UK distributors Madison.

A full list of sponsors will be released at the start of April during the team’s official launch.

To stay in touch with Team Commencal until then you can visit :

Web site : www.athertonracing.co.uk
Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/Atherton-Racing/120544638652
Twitter: www.twitter.com/Athertonracing