given that he's arguably the most successful downhiller of all time
No chance! Vouilloz, Chausson? I think Peat's great but he's not in that class. Unless of course you meant only Brits.
The problem is that we (UK) have quite a few World Champs and while we like him, most people see him as about as significant as if we had a Tiddlywinks WC.
Well I’d say he is arguably up there with “Nico” must have clocked up more World cup wins/points by now (has he?) in what is arguably a more focussed serious sport with more young fit talented riders to contend with than was the case when Vouilloz was cleaning up… Arguably…
Chausson is more likely to be a household name for her Beijing BMX Gold than riding an MTB, but then MTB and especially DH is quite a “young” sport give it another 20-40 years and there might be more fuss over a British DH world Champ, but it’ll never be as “mainstream” as a lot of sports it’s a lot harder/more expensive to get in to than football, Athletics, or any other sport commonly taught in schools and covered on the Beeb….