Trek Bicycle will sponsor a World Cup mountain bike team for 2009

Trek Bicycles will sponsor a World Cup-level mountain bike team for 2009 built around cross-country racers Liam Killeen and brothers Lukas and Matthias Fluckiger. The squad will also have a gravity component, although that roster has not yet been announced.

Australian Martin Whiteley, former boss of the successful Global and G-Cross/Honda downhill teams, will manage Trek’s new team, which will be based in Europe.

“We’re quite proud to have a return to a multi-disciplined mountain bike team,” said Michael Brown, Trek’s brand manager for mountain biking. “It’s a global approach to a global company. We have a huge presence in Europe and the world, and this is going to give us the exposure we’re looking for.”

Brown did not comment on how the formation of the European squad would impact the U.S.-based Trek-Volkswagen factory racing team. In 2008 that squad was comprised of Americans Susan Haywood, Jeremiah Bishop, Ross Schnell, Chris Eatough and Lea Davison.

Killeen, the 2006 Commonwealth Games champion, represented Great Britain at the 2004 and 2008 Olympics. He finished seventh in Beijing after crashing at the start. A World Cup contender in 2005 and 2006, Killeen suffered a season-ending virus midway through 2007 and spent much of the ’08 season rebounding from the sickness.

The move to Trek ends Killeen’s four-year relationship with Specialized. The Brit was the California company’s marquee rider in 2005, and then rode in support of Swiss rider Christoph Sauser in 2006 and 2007.

“I’m really excited to join this new and well supported program as I begin my long term preparation for the London Olympics in 2012,” Killeen said. “I’m also excited to have the Fluckiger brothers as teammates; we’ll make a strong team”.

Lukas Fluckiger, 24, finished ninth in the final 2008 World Cup standings, and landed on the podium three times this season, including a second-place finish at the August 2 round in Bromont, Canada.

Matthias Fluckiger, 20, won the junior world cross-country championship in Rotorua, New Zealand, in 2006. The younger Fluckiger also claimed the bronze medal in the U23 category at the 2008 UCI worlds in Val di Sole, Italy.

The move is a return to the private sector for Whiteley, who spent much of 2007 helping Spain’s gravity racing program. The Australian, who lives in Spain, said the final details of his new team’s downhill program will be released at a later date.

“I’m confident that in our first season of racing next year we’ll be challenging the more established teams for the title of number one men’s cross-country team, as well as seeing some regular podium performances,” Whiteley said. “These three riders will work brilliantly as a team.”

FILED UNDER: Mountain