Juliana Bikes Founder Juli Furtado

Having always been an active and outgoing sports enthusiast, Juli took to cycling like a fish to water. Her first competitive race season in 1989 which saw her take the US National Road Championship.

In the following year, Juli competed in the first Mountain Bike World Championships by racing cross-country, and securing herself the title.

The following 6 years of her professional mountain bike career saw Juli Furtado dominate the cross-country and downhill race scene. By collecting numerous wins, Juli was awarded the Guinness World Record for most career 1st place finishes in mountain biking of her time.

After years of dedication to the sport, Juli Furtado raced cross-country in the 1996 summer Olympics. However, due to an underlying illness, Juli missed out on the gold medal.

Shortly after the games, Juli was diagnosed with Lupus, and the physical limitations it caused, forced her to retire from professional racing in 1997, at the young age of 30. Despite hanging up the racing jersey, Juli continued to ride for herself. Moving from Colorado to Santa Cruz, California proved to be a pivotal point for Juli Furtado.

With her wealth of cycling experience and passion for riding, Juli decided to give back to the women’s community, to strengthen its image and help the next generation of riders. By designing a range of women’s specific components, Juli and the legendary bike builders, Santa Cruz, joined forces in 1999 to develop the first women’s specific mountain bike: The Juliana.

From there on, the World Cup champion worked closely with Santa Cruz, whilst supporting grassroot riders and contributing her expertise to the industry.

In 2013, the Juliana brand was born as the sister company to Santa Cruz. Launching a fleet of high end, stylish and comfortable mountain bikes for women to race and ride across the world.

Juli Furtado spent 6 years dominating the professional mountain bike scene, having securing herself 5 National Championships, 3 World Cup titles, she’s a legend in her own right. Her unwavering dedication to the sport we love, is inspiring and being the founder of the world’s best women’s specific mountain bike brand, is honorary.