Introducing the Juliana-SRAM Pro Team

Photos Gary Perkin

Date Mar 11, 2015

Sometimes someone’s voice shines brightly through the black and white text of an email:

“It all started at Interbike. I was with Elayna Caldwell, Will Ockelton, and Allan Cooke…there was the mention of a women’s team, then some nods and “yeahs”, then some more nods and some “schitchyeahs”…then boom, it all started happening.” So began the email from Katie Zaffke, brand manager for Juliana bicycles, which proceeded to officially announce the Juliana-SRAM Pro Team. This is not like other team announcements – it is far more significant than that.

This is a team of kickass women, sponsored by a high-profile ladies’ only bike brand, which happens to be named after one of the original badasses of our sport (of either gender). It won’t hurt that it is backed by the marketing savvy and financial resources at Santa Cruz that have helped make the Syndicate the heavyweight crew that it is. Most importantly, this is a big clue that things are changing in our sport. Opportunities like this for women are still few and far between, but this is where it all starts. Colour us extremely stoked.

Juliana Bicycles is proud to announce the launch of the new Juliana-SRAM Professional Mountain Bike Team. Anka Martin (RSA) is joined by Kelli Emmett (USA) and Sarah Leishman (CAN) to complete a trio of female athletes who will be racing the Enduro World Series and select international events in 2015.

Heretofore the be referred to as ‘the Julianas’. From left to right: Sarah Leishman, Anka Martin, Juliana Furtado, Kelli Emmett.

A gravity racer and mountain bike adventurer for over 13 years, Martin has been with Juliana since the brand launched in May, 2013. Emmett brings another 16 years of race experience to the team, beginning her career as a cross-country racer and successfully transitioning to the new breed of enduro events. Leishman completes the roster with downhill and enduro skills honed in the mountains of Whistler over the past 6 years.

Anka Martin.

“It’s incredible to see how excited and motivated our partners are to support a women’s cycling team,” says Juli Furtado, founder of Juliana Bicycles. “Anka, Kelli, and Sarah are going to do us all proud at the Enduro World Series and look set to have a great time doing it… I’m quite envious that nothing like this existed in my day, to be honest!”

Kelli Emmett.

Juli, known as “The Queen of the Mountain” during her race career, is also arguably the “Godmother of Enduro,” having raced both downhill and cross- country in the nineties and claiming World titles in both disciplines. With the launch of the Juliana-SRAM Pro Team, Juli’s racing legacy continues.