British road cyclist
Russell Downing (born 23 August 1978) is an English former professional cyclist, who rode competitively between 1999 and 2019 for numerous teams, such as Team Sky and JLT–Condor. He is the younger brother of fellow cyclist Dean Downing, and both brothers competed largely on the UCI Continental Tour and in British Premier Calendar races.
Career
Downing was born into a bike racing family: as well as his older brother, his father was also a bicycle racer. He was also a talented football player, playing with Rotherham United F.C.'s under-16s team, but Downing was convinced to become a professional cyclist by Milk Race winner Chris Walker, who Downing trained with during his late teens.[2]
He was the winner of the British National Road Race Championships in 2005.[3]
In addition to his national championships, he was also successful in some multi-stage races. His biggest victories came in the 2010 Tour de Wallonie, a 2.HC class event, as well as the 2009 Tour of Ireland.[4]
For 2010 he signed a one-year contract with the new British Professional Team, Team Sky, and became the first Briton to win a stage for the team, picking up a win in the Critérium International. His contract was renewed for a further year, for the 2011 season. In November 2011 it was announced that his contract was not being renewed for a third year and he would join the British Continental Team Endura Racing.[5] Following the merger of Endura with Team NetApp Downing joined the NetApp–Endura squad for 2013.[6] In September 2013 it was announced that Russell and Dean Downing would join the new NFTO team for 2014.[7] Russell Downing signed for the Cult Energy Pro Cycling team for the 2015 season,[8] but returned to Britain with JLT–Condor for the 2016 season.[9]
Major results
Road
Track
References
- ^ "Team Sky profile". Retrieved 24 May 2011.
- ^ MacLeary, John (10 September 2010). "Russell Downing: Q&A". telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 27 May 2018.
- ^ Profile
- ^ "Downing takes Tour of Ireland win". BBC Sport. 23 August 2009. Retrieved 24 August 2009.
- ^ "Downing to Endura Racing in 2012". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. 15 November 2011. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
- ^ Fidler, Richard (20 September 2012). "Rotherham's Russ Downing returns to the big time". Sheffield Star. Retrieved 6 October 2013.
- ^ Bull, Nick (25 September 2013). "Downing brothers reunited at NFTO for 2014". Cycling Weekly. IPC Media. Retrieved 6 October 2013.
- ^ Clarke, Stuart (24 November 2014). "Cult Energy Pro Cycling fire manager after just two months in charge". Cycling Weekly. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
- ^ Bull, Nick (12 October 2015). "Russ Downing among nine new JLT-Condor signings for 2016". Cycling Weekly. Retrieved 9 January 2016.
- ^ "Colne Grand Prix". British Cycling. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
- ^ "Warwick Town Centre Circuit Races". British Cycling. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
- ^ "East Yorkshire Classic". British Cycling. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
- ^ "Clitheroe Town Centre Grand Prix". British Cycling. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
- ^ "Downing Wins Lincoln – But Which One?". Cycling Weekly. 11 May 2008. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
- ^ Hickmott, Larry (14 June 2014). "Colne Grand Prix". British Cycling. Retrieved 14 June 2014.
- ^ "East Yorkshire Classic National Circuit Race Championship". British Cycling. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
- ^ Wynn, Nigel (14 June 2009). "Wiggins shows international class with Beaumont Trophy win". Cycling Weekly. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
- ^ "Marcin Bialoblocki wins the Girvan". Cycling Weekly. 13 April 2009. Retrieved 9 October 2016.
- ^ Lawrenson, Carl J. "40the Girvan 3 Day Cycle Race". British Cycling. Retrieved 9 October 2016.
- ^ "Jack Pullar wins Monsal Hill-Climb". Cycling Weekly. 6 October 2013. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
- ^ "Stockton Velo29-Altura Grand Prix". British Cycling. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
- ^ "The Ryedale Grand Prix inc The Peter Longbottom Memorial". British Cycling. Retrieved 7 August 2014.
- ^ Whitehouse, Andy (27 July 2014). "Adam Blythe (NFTO Pro Cycling) wins the 2014 Vericool for Schools Circuit of the Fens". British Cycling. Retrieved 7 August 2014.
External links
- Russell Downing at Cycling Archives
- Russell Downing at ProCyclingStats