The Golden Age of British downhill mountain biking looks set to continue after British Cycling named a star-studded 29 person squad for the mountain bike World Championships 2015 in Vallnord, Andorra.

The World Championships are a one-off race, not related to the World Cups, to decide who will wear the Rainbow Jersey for the next twelve months. Last year, Britain won both the men’s and women’s downhill World Championships.

Heading up the squad will be last year’s champions Gee Atherton and Manon Carpenter. They both took the top step in Hafjell, Norway, after two exciting races. They will be joined by former World Champions Danny Hart and Rachel Atherton.

Gee Atherton on his way to winning in Hafjell (Red Bull)

The women’s squad is completed by last year’s third placed rider, Tahnee Seagrave and former 4X World Champion, Katy Curd, who is racing her first year of World Cup downhill.

The men’s team is also star studded and includes last year’s runner up, Josh Bryceland alongside other exciting talents such as Brendan Fairclough and Mike Jones. There is also a junior squad led by Laurie Greenland.

The last World Cup in Vallnord was in 2013. The women’s race was won by Rachel Atherton and a storming run by Remi Thorion claimed the men’s with Gee Atherton in second. You can see Remi’s run and a bit of the track here:

Annie Last is the only senior cross-country rider that Britain will be taking to the Championships. However, Grant Ferguson will be expected to do well in the men’s under 23 race.

British Cycling technical director, Shane Sutton, said: “We’ve selected a strong squad for this year’s World Championships with some experienced riders in the downhill categories especially. We’re enjoying a golden age of downhill racing in this country and I hope to see this continue at the worlds.

The squad is below:

Mountain bike downhill

Elite men
Gee Atherton (automatic as reigning world champion)
Mike Jones
Josh Bryceland
Danny Hart
Matt Simmonds
Sam Dale
Brendan Fairclough
Bernard Kerr

Elite women
Manon Carpenter (automatic as reigning world champion)
Rachel Atherton
Tahnee Seagrave
Katy Curd

Junior men
Laurie Greenland
Frazer McCubbing
Bradley Swinbank
Neil Stewart
Elliot Heap
Charlie Hatton
James Purvis

Mountain bike cross-country

Elite women
Annie Last

Under-23 men
Grant Ferguson
Iain Paton

Under-23 women
Alice Barnes

Junior men
Fraser Clacherty
Mark Mcguire
Thomas Craig
Will Gascoyne

Junior women
Evie Richards
Ffion James

Brendan Fairclough will be hoping to avoid getting any more scars in Vallnord