News: 4th Out of the Saddle Evening is the Biggest Yet

On Saturday 20th October, professional cycling brothers Dean and Russell Downing hosted their fourth annual fundraising evening with the stars

Double Olympic champion Ed Clancy and Dean downing

On Saturday 20th October, professional cycling brothers Dean and Russell Downing hosted their fourth annual fundraising evening with the stars, welcoming 260 guests to “Out of the Saddle – An Evening with the Downing Brothers”.

Taking place at the Carlton Park Hotel in Rotherham, the event was attended by a number of big names from the world of cycling, including Olympic Gold medallist Ed Clancy, overall winner of the Tour of Britain, Jonathan Tiernan-Locke and his soon-to-be Team Sky teammate, Ben Swift.

Guests were treated to a buffet dinner, followed by a question and answer session compered by David Harmon, Eurosport’s cycling commentator. This provided a chance to hear from riders including Jonathan Tiernan-Locke and Ed Clancy who each shared details of their extraordinary success this summer.

Russell Downing with Tour of Britain jersey and numbers …

Harmon then remained behind the microphone for the evening to do the honours as MC and Auctioneer. There were 11 special items to bid for, including Tiernan-Locke’s signed Tour of Britain gold jersey, Kristian House’s KoM winners jersey, also from the Tour of Britain, Chris Froome’s signed Vuelta jersey and Ed Clancy’s signed Olympic kit.

Also receiving bids was a signed Olympic photomontage of Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins and a Jeff Banks bespoke suit, while the lucky raffle winners each took home pair of Festina ladies and men’s watches from Festina UK.

The auction raised £7000, which was donated to Brothers on Bikes (http://www.brothersonbikes.org.uk). At the event were brothers Sam (aged 15) and Ollie (aged 14) who had recently completed the John O’Groats to Land’s End ride in memory of their Uncle Malcolm, who passed away with cancer in November 2011.

Speaking after the event, Dean Downing said: “This year’s Out of the Saddle was a great success and we’re both really grateful to everyone who came along, got involved in the auction and helped to make our annual evening with the stars the biggest yet.”

Tour of Britain winner Jonathan Tiernan-Locke with David Harmon on mic.

After the event, Jonathan Tiernan-Locke tweeted: “Honoured to share a table with Brothers on Bikes Sam & Ollie at the Out of the Saddle do. Great night and heaps of cash raised for a worthy cause!”

Also in attendance from the cycling industry were Rapha Condor Sharp’s Directeur Sportif John Herety, Endura Racing’s team manager Brian Smith, Graham Briggs, Chris Walker, Malcolm Elliott, Pete Williams and Matt Stephens, former pro cyclist turned cycling television presenter. Emmerdale actor and keen cyclist Rik Makeram was also invited as a special guest.

For more information on the work of Out of the Saddle, please visit http://www.outofthesaddle.org.uk.