Atherton Racing launches new look and sponsors

The Athertons, mountain biking's most famous family, announced details of their new kit and partners for 2009 which include Animal, Commencal, Nissan and Shimano. Siblings Dan, Gee and Rachel Atherton will continue to ride under the name Animal Commencal to reflect its ongoing relationship with the two brands.

"With Animal and Commencal's continuing support we can really start to focus on our main goals for the year," said Team Manager Dan Brown. "The World Championships and World Cup overall remain the main competitive goals but we also aim to get people excited about our sport and in turn get more people on bikes."

Last summer, the Athertons made history at the World Cup in Andorra when all three won events. Gee and Rachel won the downhill while Dan won the 4X. Soon after, Gee and Rachel won their respective world championship downhill titles in Italy.

The team's new look is inspired by Animal's Summer collection which see the lightning bolts of 2008 replaced with Animal's famous check.

The team also picked up a new major off-bike sponsor, Nissan, which already backs the UCI World Cup series.

After recently racing the Mob N Mojave in Nevada, Gee and Dan are aiming for the opening World Cup in South Africa. The timing of Rachel's racing debut is uncertain as she is still recovering from a serious crash with a pick-up truck in California in January that left her with a dislocated shoulder.