Shanaze Reade

Shanaze Danielle Reade (born 23 September 1988 in Crewe, Cheshire, United Kingdom)[2] is a British former bicycle motocross (BMX) racer and track cyclist whose prime competitive years began in 2002.

[5] She was previously a Track & Field enthusiast but apparently got bored with 100-metre sprint running and the Shot Put after five years in those sports before discovering BMX.

[10]Reade fractured her knee two weeks before the UCI World Championships in July 2005 at a national event in England.

[11] Known for her power, she developed her strength racing against boys and older amateurs, including men up to the present time.

She won her first professional race in the Girls Pro at the American Bicycle Association (ABA) Winternationals in Phoenix, Arizona on 1 April 2006.

In a post race interview, Reade said: "...The first run in the final (the false start) definitely took a lot out of me because I got halfway down the back straight the second time and my legs were burning bad.

"[17]A month later, on 29 March, Reade went on to take first place in Team Sprint at the UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Palma de Mallorca along with Victoria Pendleton.

At the 2008 UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Manchester, she again won the gold in the women's team sprint with Pendleton.

Having successfully defended her crown at the 2008 world championships,[22] Reade was named the sole woman member of the United Kingdom BMX Olympic team by British Cycling on 9 July 2008.

The final round saw Reade ride slightly more conservatively conceding the lead to Anne-Caroline Chausson on the first berm.

[26] In 2009 however Reade and Pendleton failed to retain their team crown, winning only a silver after losing out to Kaarle McCulloch and Anna Meares of Australia.

In April 2015 it was announced that Reade was re-joining the Great Britain track squad after a period based in the United States competing in BMX.

[28] Subsequently, in August 2015 the Madison Genesis team announced that Reade would ride for them during the 2015–16 track cycling season as part of her preparation for the 2016 Summer Olympics.

In a January 2019 interview, Reade explained that she was returning to competition for "closure" after feeling that her physical and mental condition were sub-optimal at the time of her retirement, adding that she was now treating the sport as a hobby and not accepting funding for her cycling.

Reade and Victoria Pendleton in 2008