1. The first purpose-built mountain bike was made by American Joe Breeze in 1978. Prior to that Breeze and the other Californian mountain biking pioneers had adapted old American cruiser bikes for off-road use.
2. In 2008, Rachel Atherton became the first British women to win the elite women's title at the UCI Mountain Bike Downhill Championships, in Trentino, Italy.
3. The UCI Mountain Bike World Championships have only been held in the UK once, in 2007 at Fort William.
4. Mountain biking first became an Olympic sport at the 1996 Games in Atlanta, with Dutchman Bart Brentjens the first men’s gold medallist and Italy’s Paulo Pezzo the first female Olympic champion.
5. At London 2012, Annie Last became the first British woman to qualify for the Olympic cross-country mountain biking since 2000.
"JO Atlanta 1996 - Drapeau" by Content Providers(s): CDC/Dr. Edwin P. Ewing, Jr.Original uploader was Semnoz at fr.wikipedia - phil.cdc.govOriginally from fr.wikipedia; description page is/was here.. Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:JO_Atlanta_1996_-_Drapeau.jpg#mediaviewer/File:JO_Atlanta_1996_-_Drapeau.jpg
