Aaron Gwin may have stolen all the headlines yesterday from the YT Mob announcement but there was another name on the press release – Angel Suarez.

It’s understandable that you may not have heard of the twenty-year-old Spaniard before but we reckon he’s going to be one to keep an eye on this year. Here’s everything you need to know about the team mate of the fastest man in downhill:

Angel Suarez was born in Vigo, Spain on December 8 1995. His father owns a motorbike shop and his first love was motocross. He came to downhill late in life, in fact he didn’t touch a downhill bike until he was 16 years old.

He took to the sport like a duck to water however and he says: “I love the sensation of going fast and getting my lines perfect.”

In 2014, just three years later, he was already tasting race success as he finished 18th at the IXS European downhill in Pila and qualified 48th for the Meribel World Cup.

In 2015 he built on this success and bagged three top 40 World Cup finishes at Mont Sainte Anne, Val di Sole and most impressively Lenzerheide, where he finished 16th.

He finished the season in 50th position overall. This may not sound exactly ground-breaking but considering he was only 19 at the time, did it all as a privateer and spent time out with broken ribs and a collar bone, it certainly shows that he has talent to burn.

Angel Suarez’s story is similar to Gwin’s – a motocross convert who came out of nowhere under Martin Whiteley’s guidance – but will he share the same success as his American counterpart?

Well, he’s certainly ambitious enough – his aim for this year is to get top 20 finishes at every World Cup – but we won’t really find out until the dust settles at Lourdes on April 11.

Angel Suarez Trivia

• Nickname – Pata Negra (Black Paw)
• Height – 186cm
• Weight – 74kg
• Weakness – pedalling
• Favourite food – potatoes with eggs
• Favourite trail – Mont Sainte Anne
• Favourite riders – Greg Minnaar, Sam Hill