Marin Bikes adds Jurgen Beneke to team roster

Marin Bikes announced today that former UCI Downhill World Champion Jurgen Beneke will be riding Marin Bikes in 2008. Beneke won the 1993 UCI World Downhill Championship while racing for Marin Bikes. After winning the championship, Beneke raced in the UCI and NORBA series, finishing second in World Cup standings in 1994 and 1997, and later won the NORBA Championships in 1998 before retiring in 2000. More recently, Beneke has raced within the US and Canada; earning two top ten finishes at Sea Otter with a 2nd in the Super D and 6th in the downhill, 4th at the Downieville Classic Downhill and 17th at the UCI World Cup round at Mont Sainte Anne. In association with SRAM and Old World Plaster, Beneke will concentrate his 2008 season around key national and international races as well as promotional events in the US and in his native country of Germany. He will work with Marin in promoting the brand and help with development on Marin’s freeride Quake bikes and the upcoming Quad Link downhill prototype that Shaums March rode to the UCI Masters Downhill World Championships. "We are very excited to have Jurgen back on a Marin!" stated Marin's Marketing Manager Mark Vanek. "He is a great rider and brings a wealth of knowledge from racing at the premier level for so many years." Beneke, 35, currently lives in Kingston, NY with his wife Stacey and operates his own company, Old World Plaster. www.marinbikes.com