Shanaze Reade
BMX
Current Team: Cheshire Ghost Riders
DOB: 23.09.1988 | From: Crewe | Based: Crewe
Shanaze began her career on the BMX track aged 10 and by the time she was 17 she was Britiain’s number one female rider, having competed in the Elite Men’s category throughout the National Series to improve her skills. International success followed with Shanaze being crowned ‘World Champion’ in every year she has competed from 2006 - 2008. In the 2008 UCI BMX World Championships she stormed away from the competition in the finals and took the World title by several lengths.
Shanaze took up track cycling to keep herself fit for BMX racing, but her power and strength worked well in the velodrome and she was selected to for the role of lead-out rider in the Women’s Team Sprint with Victoria Pendleton with whom she won world titles in 2007 and 2008.
The Beijing Olympics in 2008 saw Shanaze compete in the inaugural BMX competition. She started as favourite for the Women’s title, but crashed out on the last bend in the final as she tried to overtake the eventual winner Anne-Caroline Chausson. However, her win-at-all-costs approach and aggressive style won her many admirers.
The 2009 season saw Shanaze unable to defend her World BMX Championship title following an operation on her injured shoulder, but in 2010 she was back to full strength and regained the Champion title in a victory which, in her words, “was the victory which marked my return and I found that very emotional.”
In 2011, Shanaze won the Olympic test event in London as well as becoming the first ever World BMX TT Champion.
Website: www.shanazereadeseries.com
Twitter: @shanazereade
Shanaze Reade: Selected Career Highlights to Date
2011
World BMX Championships, Copenhagen, Gold, TT – Elite Women
UCI BMX Supercross World Cup, London (Olympic Test Event), Gold, Elite Women
2010
World BMX Championships, South Africa, Gold, Elite Women
2009
World Track Championships, Poland, Silver, Team Sprint
2008
World BMX Championships, China, Gold, Elite Women
World Track Championships, Manchester, Gold, Team Sprint
2007
World BMX Championships, Canada, Gold, Elite Women
World Track Championships, Majorca, Gold, Team Sprint
2006
World BMX Championships, Brazil, Gold, Junior Women