Russ Downing is an ex-British champion and WC gold medalist track and road cyclist. Across his career, Russ rode for numerous teams including Team sky, Net App Endura, Cult Energy, NFTO, JLT-condor, Pinarello RT and Holdsworth bikes.
Russ has raced in numerous big races, including the Paris Roubaix, Amstel Gold and the Tour of Flanders.
Since retiring from racing in 2019, Russ has stayed central to the cycling world, working with brands such as Pinarello UK and Halo Wheels. During the Covid-19 lockdown, Russ created the online cycling club ‘The Donny Chain Gang’ which continues to meet in Zwift with over 100 riders participating in their two weekly rides and a community of over 2500 members.
In 2021, Russ partnered with tech entrepreneur Tim Hammond to launch Cycle Expresso, a scheme that encourages bike shops to install their own instore pop-up cafés.
The following year, the pair founded BikeFlex, a bike-leasing scheme that permits it’s users the opportunity to access top-end cycling equipment.
With countless amazing results as a professional cyclist, and an exciting career in the cycling world since, we’re so excited to have another legend of British cycling join us at the National Cycling Show.