Steve Peat

Steve Peat
Headshot of a smiling Peat in a safety vest and a hat
Steve Peat in 2007
Personal information
Full nameSteve Peat
NicknamePeaty, Sheffield Steel
Born (1974-06-17) 17 June 1974 (age 50)
England
 Great Britain
Height6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Weight196 lb (89 kg; 14.0 st)
Team information
Current teamSanta Cruz Syndicate
DisciplineMTB
RoleRider/Ambassador
Rider typeDH
Professional teams
1995Saracen
Mid 1990sTeam MBUK
Late 1990sGT Bikes
2002–2005Orange Bikes
2006 –Santa Cruz Syndicate
Major wins
United Kingdom GBR DH National Champion (8 Wins)
Europe EUR DH European Champion (3 Wins)
UCI DH World Cup (17 Wins)
UCI DH World Cup Overall (3 Wins)
UCI DH World Champion (1 Win)
Medal record
Representing  Great Britain
Mountain Bike
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2009 Canberra Downhill
Silver medal – second place 2000 Sierra Nevada Downhill
Silver medal – second place 2001 Vail Downhill
Silver medal – second place 2002 Kaprun Downhill
Silver medal – second place 2008 Val Di Sol Downhill

Steve Peat (born 17 June 1974 in Chapeltown, South Yorkshire), nicknamed "Sheffield Steel" or more commonly just "Peaty", is a British professional downhill mountain biker who was born and lives in Chapeltown, Sheffield, England. Prior to his career as a professional mountain biker Peat was employed as a plumber by James Lamb. He is married to Adele Croxon and has two sons, Jake and George Peat.

Peat began his career with little success riding for the Saracen team alongside Rob Warner, before moving in the mid-1990s to Team MBUK. He rode for GT Bicycles in the late 1990s and for the Orange team between 2002 and 2005, winning the Fort William downhill world cup round in 2005. He then joined the Santa Cruz Syndicate team for the 2006 season, which saw him finish 1st overall. He continues to race for Santa Cruz Syndicate.

As last man down the hill, Peat won[1] the La Bresse downhill world cup round 2 on 10 May 2009 with a time of 02:07.14 knocking Sam Hill out of the hot seat for his 16th world cup round win, tying at the top of the all-time leader-board with Nicolas Vouilloz. Just one week later on 17 May 2009, at the third round of the UCI World Cup in Vallnord, Peat won again[2] (besting compatriot Gee Atherton by just 0.02 seconds) making him the most successful male downhill mountain bike racer ever by number of wins at the time. This record has since been beaten Peat's South African teammate, Greg Minnaar.

Other successes include placing second in the Mountain Bike World Championships in 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2008. On 6 September 2009, Peat won the World Championships in Canberra for the first time in his career, with a winning time of 2:30.33, just 0.05 seconds ahead of his Santa Cruz teammate Greg Minnaar. He was crowned World Cup champion in 2002, 2004 and 2006. He has also won the Lisboa Downhill, held in Lisbon, Portugal, eight times.

Aside from his professional riding career, Peat has other involvements with the sport, including contributing to the design and manufacture of specialist riding clothing made by Royal Racing of which he is part owner.[3] Peat also has involvements with young cyclist academies, and is a proponent of youth involvement in the sport.

Following his recent world champ status he has released his own game 'Steve Peat – Downhill Mountain Biking' for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.

In recognition of his accomplishments, Peat was added to Sheffield's 'walk of fame' outside Sheffield Town Hall in 2016.[4] In 2020, Sheffield-based publisher Vertebrate announced they would be releasing Peat's biography in October 2021.[5]

Races (incomplete)

Steve Peat being interviewed after the downhill at Crankworx 2006

References

  1. ^ "UCI Official Results: 2009 Round 2 La Bresse". UCI. 10 May 2009. Archived from the original on 15 September 2009.
  2. ^ "UCI Official Results: 2009 Round 3 Vallnord". UCI. 17 May 2009. Archived from the original on 15 September 2009.
  3. ^ "Interview: Steve Peat". Bike Radar. 26 April 2008. Archived from the original on 11 July 2009.
  4. ^ "Sheffield mountain biker Steve Peat joins 'walk of fame'". BBC News. 28 October 2015. Retrieved 20 June 2021.
  5. ^ "Biography of world-class mountain bike champion Steve Peat to be published in 2021". Vertebrate Publishing. Retrieved 20 June 2021.