Up-and-coming American downhill racer Neko Mulally has signed with 23 Degrees Sports Management, the agency owned by Trek World Racing boss Martin Whiteley.
The 16-year-old joins World Cup downhillers Greg Minnaar, Sam Blenkinsop, Justin Leov and Luke Strobel, freerider/downhiller Kyle Strait and slopestyle star Cameron Zink on the books of the company, which is renowned for nurturing talented riders.
Mulally was too young to race World Cups this year – he will make his debut in 2010 – but finished fourth in the dual slalom at the Crankworx festival in Whistler and fifth in the Canadian Open Downhill, just seconds behind World Cup stars Brendan Fairclough and Steve Smith.
Currently a member of Specialized Team America, Mulally, from Reading, Pennsylvania, is looking for sponsors for 2010.
Whiteley said: "It was a real pleasure to meet someone who is so focused and committed without losing sight of what got him to be where is now, and that’s the pure enjoyment of bike riding. I knew after the first day of meeting him that he had that hard-to-quantify element that we see in champions, and I have no doubt he is going places. He fits the 23D bill and I knew I had to work with him."
