Dale Holmes
Dale Holmes is a British former professional "Old/Mid School" Bicycle Motocross racer whose prime competitive years were from 1983 to 2009.
Racing career milestones
Note: Professional first are on the national level unless otherwise indicated.Started Racing: 1982, aged 10, in England. He first noticed BMX on reading a BMX mag back in 1980.
First race result: Fourth place in 9 year age group at the Nottingham Outlaws BMX track in Nottingham, England.
Sanctioning Body:
First win :
First sponsor: Bunny's Bike Shop
First national win: At a 1985 United Kingdom National in Slough, England in 13 Expert.
Turned Professional: In mid 1988 at 16 in England directly after the 1988 IBMXF European Championships.
First Professional race result: Second Place in Superclass Poole UKBMX National.
First Professional win: NBMXA British Championships 1988.
First National win: 13 Expert Slough 1985.
First Pro/ Superclass win: NBMXA British Championships 1988.
Retired from Elite: In late 2006 to concentrate on 4x Mountain Bike Racing. He recently started BMX racing again in the ABA Veteran's Pro class. His debut race was on 1 September 2007 at the ABA Black Jack Nationals in Reno, Nevada. He won on Saturday and came in second on Sunday.
Height & weight at height of his career : Ht:5'9" Wt:182 lbs.
*In the NBL it is B"/Superclass/"A" pro ; in the ABA it is "A" pro.
**In the NBL it is "A" pro ; in the ABA it is "AA" pro.
Career factory and major bike shop sponsors
Note: This listing only denotes the racer's primary sponsors. At any given time a racer could have numerous ever changing co-sponsors. Primary sponsorships can be verified by BMX press coverage and sponsor's advertisements at the time in question. When possible exact dates are given.Amateur/Junior Men
- Nottingham Outlaws: 1982
- Bunnys/GT BMX: 1983-1984
- JMC Racing Equipment: 1985
- Powerlite Engineering: 1986-1987
Professional/Elite Men
- Cyclecraft: 1988-1989
- ELF : 1989-1990
- MCS Bicycle Specialties : 1990-December 1991
- Webco Bicycles: January 1992-December 1992. This is not the same famous American pioneering Webco Inc. of the early to late 1970s. This Webco is the West European Bicycle Company created in 1991 by Gerrit Does, the person who introduced BMX to Europe and co-founded the IBMXF.
- GT Bicycles : January 1993-September 1999. Holmes was dropped by GT Bicycles the day after the 1999 NBL Grandnationals. According to Todd Corbitt, GT team manager and former pro racer GT, was overstaffed with professionals. Holmes contract still ran until the end of 1999 but GT would release him if he gets an offer of sponsorship from another company.
- Nirve: 26 December 1999 - late November 2001
- O'Neal/Atomic: Early 2002- late November 2002
- Free Agent: 2002- 25 November 2013. As the Team Manager of Free Agent World Team post his October 2006 BMX retirement at Elite level. He was also signed by KHS Bicycles to race Mountain Bikes at the same time. The 2002 ABA Grand National was his first race with Free Agent.
- Dale Holmes Racing: 2014 Started own team with Chase Bicycles as primary bike sponsor
- Dale Holmes Racing: 2016 Dale Holmes Racing with Stay Strong Title Sponsor
- Dale Holmes Racing: 2017 USA Cycling Development Team with Haro Bikes & Rockstar Energy
- Dale Holmes Racing: 2018 USA Cycling Development Team with Haro Bikes & Rockstar Energy
- Dale Holmes Racing: 2019 Haro Factory
Career bicycle motocross titles
Amateur/Junior Men
National Bicycle Motocross Association- 1985 NBMXA 13 Expert National No.1
- 1987 NBMXA 15 Expert and 14 & 15 Cruiser National No.1
- 1987 UKBMX 15 Expert National No.1
- 1987 UKBMX 15 Expert Champion of Champions 1st
- 1988 NBMXA 16 Expert British Champion
- 1988 NBMXA 16+ Cruiser British Champion
- 1988 NBMXA Superclass British Champion
- 1988 NBMXA Triple British Champion winning 3 Classes same day
- 1988 UKBMX Champion of Champions 1st place Superclass
- 1985 13 Expert European Championships Spain 6th
- 1986 14 Expert European Championships Germany 7th
- 1987 15 Expert European Championships Belgium 2nd
- 1987 14-15 Cruiser European Championships Belgium 7th
- 1987 15 Expert European Cup 2nd Netherlands
- 1987 14-15 Cruiser European Cup 1st Netherlands
- 1988 16 Expert European Championships Netherlands 8th
- 1988 16-17 Cruiser European Championships Netherlands 2nd
- 1988 16 Expert European Cup 1st Netherlands
- 1988 16 Expert Romford International England 1st''
Professional/Elite Men
Turned Professional 1988 Age 16English Bicycle Motocross Association
- 1989 EBA British Champion
- 1989 EBA National Champion
- 1990 EBA Cruiser British Champion
- 1990 EBA National Champion
- 1990 EBA Cruiser National Champion
- 1991 EBA British Champion
- 1991 EBA Cruiser British Champion
- 1991 EBA National Champion
- 1993 EBA Cruiser British Champion
- 1994 EBA National Champion
- 1994 EBA Cruiser National Champion
- 1994 EBA British Champion
- 1994 EBA Cruiser British Champion
- 1995 EBA National Champion
- 1995 EBA Cruiser National Champion
- 1995 EBA British Champion
- 1995 EBA Cruiser British Champion
- 1996 EBA National Champion
- 1997 EBA National Champion
- 1997 EBA British Champion
- 1998 EBA British Champion
- 1999 EBA British Champion
- 2000 EBA British Champion
- 2002 British Champion
- 2003 Cruiser British Champion
- 2004 British Champion
- 2004 Cruiser British Champion
- 2005 Cruiser British Champion
- 1999 Pro Class/Pro Open/Pro Cruiser Triple Big Bear Nationals
- 1999 Pro Class and Pro Cruiser Grand National Champion
- 1999 National No.1 Pro Cruiser
- 2009 2010 Elite Masters National No.1
- 1993 ABA Grand Nationals winner A Pro
- 1999 National No.1 Pro Cruiser
- 1999 ABA World Champion Pro Cruiser
- 1999 ABA World Champion AA Pro
- 2001 20" World Cup Champion
- 2001 ABA Grand Nationals Pro Open Champion
- 2007 Grand Nationals Veteran Pro Champion
- 2007 Disney Cup Veteran Pro Champion
- 2008 Disney Cup Veteran Pro Champion
- 1986 14-15 Cruiser Bronze Medal World Championship
- 1993 Elite Men Silver Medal World Championship
- 1994 Elite Cruiser Bronze Medal World Championship
- 1995 Elite Men Silver Medal European Championship
- 1996 Elite Men World Champion
- 1996 Elite Men European Champion
- 1997 Elite Men World Cup Champion
- 1997 Elite Men European Champion
- 1997 Elite Cruiser Bronze Medal World Championship
- 1998 Elite Cruiser Silver Medal World Championship
- 2000 Elite Men Bronze Medal World Championship
- 2001 Elite Men World Champion
- 2001 Elite Cruiser Silver Medal World Championship
- 2008 Masters World Champion
- 2008 35-40 Cruiser World Champion
- 2009 Masters Silver Medal World Championship
- 2009 35-40 Cruiser World Champion''
Pro Series Championships and Invitationals
Notable accolades
- 1996 British Cyclist of the Year
- 2009 Inducted into the British Cycling Hall of Fame
- 2 x European Champion
- 1 x UCI World Cup Champion
- 5 x World Champion
- 5 x UCI World Team Championships
- 3 x US National Champion
Significant injuries
- Broke hand at the UCI World Championships in Paris, France on 31 July 2005 laid up until December 2005. He took a brief hiatus from racing after the hand healed.
Racing habits and traits
Miscellaneous
- Holmes is a contributing writer for BMX Plus! magazine. He has a monthly side bar news article in BMX Plus!'s "Inside Scoop" section called the "Dale Holmes Update".
- In 2003, just before the ABA Reno, Nevada National, Holmes was doing practice sprints on his race bike when he was accosted and mugged by two men one armed with a knife, the other with a gun, which he pointed at Holmes' head. They proceeded to rob Holmes of his backpack and race bike. Holmes was unharmed.
- Is a regular at Starbucks on Winchester Rd, Murrieta and Soup Plantation
- Holmes is the Team Manager of the 2 x Olympic Gold Medalist, Maris Strombergs
- Team Managed Free Agent to 3 x UCI World Champion Team Titles
- 2 x Member of Team GT World Championships Team wins during UCI World Championships
- During the 2012 London Olympic Games, Holmes was the guest TV pundit for BBC's live coverage of the BMX event
BMX press magazine interviews and articles
- "On the Squad" BMX Biker Monthly 1984 No.8 pg.36
- "Dale Holmes Takes The Title!" BMX Plus! December 1996 Vol.19 No.12 pg.44 Brief interview on how he won the 1996 Elite Men UCI World Championship.
- "Q&A: Have you ever cheated racing?" Snap BMX Magazine May 1999 Vol.6 Iss.3 No.31 pg.25 One of 10 separate interviews of different racers including Brian Foster and Matt Hadan asking if they ever cheated during a race.
- "Dale Holmes Rides" Moto Mag July/August 2003 Vol 2, No 3, p. 27
Post BMX career
Mountain Bike Career Record
Started racing: 2002Sub Discipline: Four-cross
Sanctioning body: UCI
Career MTB factory and major Non-factory sponsors
Note: This listing only denotes the racer's primary sponsors. At any given time a racer could have numerous ever changing co-sponsors. Primary sponsorships can be verified by MTB press coverage and sponsor's advertisements at the time in question. When possible exact dates are given.Professional
- Orange: 2001 – 2002
- KHS Bicycles: 2002 – 2013
Career Mountain Bike Racing (MTB) titles
Professional
British Cycling- 2 x British National 4-Cross Champion
- 4x European Championships 3rd
- 2005 4x World Championship 7th
Honours