Rachel Atherton

Rachel Atherton
Personal information
Full name Rachel Laura Atherton
Nickname Waynehead
Born (1987-12-06) December 6, 1987
 England
 United Kingdom
Height 170 cm (5 ft 7 in)
Weight 65 kg (143 lb)
Team information
Current team Trek Factory Racing
Discipline BMX & MTB
Role Rider
Rider type DH
Professional team(s)
2007-2011 Animal Commençal
2011-2015 GT
2015- Trek Factory Racing
Major wins
DH World Champion (x4)
DH World Cup (x5 overall, 33 rounds)
DH European Champion (x2)
DH National Champion (x5)
DH Junior World Champion
Infobox last updated on
3 September 2016

Rachel Laura Atherton (born 6 December 1987, near Salisbury) is a professional racing cyclist specialising in downhill mountain bike racing, and is a multiple world champion.

Atherton began riding BMX at the age of 8 and mountain biking at the age of 11.[1] She was both Sunday Times' Sportswoman of the Year[2] and BBC Midlands Junior Sportswoman of the Year[3] in 2005, and then BBC Midlands Sportswoman of the Year in 2008.[4] In October 2015, a video of Atherton overtaking 91 competitors in five minutes during a race went semi viral.[5]

Career

Since 2007 Rachel Atherton has been part of the Animal Commençal race team along with brothers Dan Atherton and Gee Atherton. In 2012, Rachel along with brothers Dan, Gee and Marc Beaumont signed with GT Bicycles.

In June 2008 Rachel Atherton became the first British woman to win the Elite UCI Downhill World Championship, defeating second placed Sabrina Jonnier by 11.99 seconds in the final.[6]

Rachel Atherton was involved in an accident[7] with a pickup truck whilst on a time trial training ride with brothers Dan and Gee in Santa Cruz, California, on January 18, 2009. She sustained a dislocated shoulder which, after later needing a nerve graft,[8] ruled her out of the 2009 racing season, including the September World Championships in Canberra.[9]

In September 2012, Rachel Atherton took the final World Cup round on a diverse and testing Norwegian track and clinched the overall title, despite missing the opening race of the season. The Norwegian race was the final round of a seven round series in which Atherton claimed a win in 5 of the 6 events she raced.

In June 2016, Atherton became the first woman to win 10 consecutive rounds of the World Cup, surpassing the record previously held by Anne-Caroline Chausson.[10] In September that same year, she also achieved the unprecedented feat of winning every round in a World Cup season.[11]

Palmarès

2002
1st British National Mountain Biking Championships (DH) – Youth
2004
1st British National Mountain Biking Championships (DH)
2nd UCI Mountain Bike & Trials World Championships – Junior
2005
1st UCI Mountain Bike & Trials World Championships – Junior
1st European Mountain Bike Championships (DH)
1st British National Mountain Biking Championships (DH)
2006
1st European Mountain Bike Championships (DH)
1st Lisboa Downtown Championships
3rd Overall UCI Mountain Bike World Cup
1st Round 5 (Balneario Camboriu)
2nd British National Mountain Biking Championships
3rd UCI Mountain Bike & Trials World Championships
2007
1st UCI Mountain Bike World Cup Round 5 (Maribor)
1st Maxxis Cup DH Round 1
1st Sea Otter Classic
1st NPS DH, Round 1
1st NPS DH, Round 3 (Moelfre)
1st NPS DH, Round 4 (Caersws)
1st Fat Face Night Race
1st Street Race, Edinburgh
2nd UCI Mountain Bike & Trials World Championships
2nd NPS DH, Round 5 (Innerleithen)
3rd DS, Sea Otter Classic
2008
1st UCI Mountain Bike & Trials World Championships
1st Overall UCI Mountain Bike World Cup
1st Round 2 (Vallnord, Andorra)
1st Round 4 (Mont-Sainte-Anne, Canada)
1st Round 5 (Bromont, Canada)
1st Round 7 (Schladming, Austria)
2nd Round 1 (Maribor, Slovenia)
2nd Round 6 (Canberra, Australia)
3rd Round 3 (Fort William, Scotland)
1st Maxxis Cup DH (Gouveia, Portugal)
1st Alpine Bikes Winter series DH (Scotland)
1st Canadian Open DH (Whistler, Canada)
1st Monster Energy Garbanzo Downhill (Whistler, Canada)
2010
UCI Mountain Bike World Cup (DH)
1st Round 1 (Maribor, Slovenia)
1st Round 6 (Windham, United States)
2011
2nd UCI Mountain Bike & Trials World Championships
3rd Overall UCI Mountain Bike World Cup
1st Round 5 (Windham, United States)
2nd Round 2 (Fort William, Scotland)
2nd Round 3 (Leogang, Austria)
3rd Round 4 (Mont-Sainte-Anne, Canada)
3rd Round 7 (Val di Sole, Italy)
2012
1st British National Mountain Biking Championships (DH)
1st Overall UCI Mountain Bike World Cup
1st Round 2 (Val di Sole, Italy)
1st Round 4 (Mont-Sainte-Anne, Canada)
1st Round 5 (Windham, United States)
1st Round 6 (Val d'Isère, France)
1st Round 7 (Hafjell, Norway)
2nd Round 3 (Fort William, Scotland)
1st European Downhill Cup Round 1 (Monte Tamaro, Switzerland)
1st European Downhill Cup Round 2 (Leogang, Austria)
2nd British Downhill Series, Round 1 (Combe Sydenham, England)
2nd British Downhill Series, Round 2 (Fort William, Scotland)
2013
1st UCI Mountain Bike & Trials World Championships
1st Overall UCI Mountain Bike World Cup (DH)
1st Round 1 (Fort William, Scotland)
1st Round 2 (Val di Sole, Italy)
1st Round 3 (Vallnord, Andorra)
1st Round 5 (Hafjell, Norway)
2nd Round 4 (Mont-Sainte-Anne, Canada)
2nd Round 6 (Leogang, Austria)
2014
2nd UCI Mountain Bike & Trials World Championships
2nd Overall UCI Mountain Bike World Cup (DH)
1st Round 2 (Cairns, Australia)
1st Round 7 (Méribel, France)
2nd Round 1 (Pietermaritzburg, South Africa)
2nd Round 4 (Leogang, Austria)
2nd Round 5 (Mont-Sainte-Anne, Canada)
2nd Round 6 (Windham, United States)
2015
1st UCI Mountain Bike & Trials World Championships
1st British National Mountain Biking Championships (DH)
1st Overall UCI Mountain Bike World Cup (DH)
1st Round 2 (Fort William, Scotland)
1st Round 3 (Leogang, Austria)
1st Round 4 (Lenzerheide, Switzerland)
1st Round 5 (Mont-Sainte-Anne, Canada)
1st Round 6 (Windham, United States)
1st Round 7 (Val di Sole, Italy)
2nd Round 1 (Lourdes, France)
1st British Downhill Series, Round 2 (Fort William, Scotland)
2016
1st UCI Mountain Bike & Trials World Championships
1st British National Mountain Biking Championships (DH)
1st Overall UCI Mountain Bike World Cup (DH)
1st Round 1 (Lourdes, France)
1st Round 2 (Cairns, Australia)
1st Round 3 (Fort William, Scotland)
1st Round 4 (Leogang, Austria)
1st Round 5 (Lenzerheide, Switzerland)
1st Round 6 (Mont-Sainte-Anne, Canada)[12]
1st Round 7 (Vallnord, Andorra)

References

  1. ↑ "Rachel Atherton Interview". British Cycling. 16 April 2008.
  2. ↑ "Atherton awarded Young Sportswoman". Cycling News. November 2005.
  3. ↑ "Rachel wins BBC Midlands title". BBC Shropshire. 5 December 2005.
  4. ↑ "Rachel Atherton wins BBC Midlands Sportswoman of the Year!". Pinkbike. 8 December 2008.
  5. ↑ "Red Bull Foxhunt with Rachel Atherton". Red Bull. October 2015.
  6. ↑ "Gee and Rachel Atherton will remember the 21st of June 2008 for a long time". Union Cycliste Internationale. 21 June 2008.
  7. ↑ "Rachel Atherton Car Crash Accident". Pinkbike.com. 20 January 2009.
  8. ↑ "Finally! A Decision!". AnimalCommencal. 1 May 2009.
  9. ↑ "World Championships, World Champion.". Atherton Racing. 12 August 2009.
  10. ↑ Smurthwaite, James (12 June 2016). "Leogang World Cup 2016: Rachel Atherton takes record breaking tenth consecutive win". dirtmountainbike.com. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  11. ↑ "Rachel Atherton wins women's race: 2016 Vallnord World Cup". dirtmountainbike.com. 3 September 2016. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
  12. ↑ "Atherton wins World Cup in Mont Sainte Anne". cyclingnews.com. 7 August 2016. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
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