Rachel Atherton won’t race 2020 World Champs

Rachel Atherton has announced that she will not be racing in the 2020 World Championships in Leogang.

DH fans will have noticed that Rachel Atherton was missing from the line-up at Crankworx, and will now be disappointed to hear that the 6 time World Champ, will not be racing in the 2020 World Champs in Leogang later this month.

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I wasn’t racing Crankworx but I was Training! My local Trail centre – CliMachX 👌 I have used this last descent for the last 5 years to train for racing – hard sprints into endurance on a long technical DH 🔥🥴 . the first couple minutes are undulating ups and downs, I sprint every single uphill each around 5 seconds, catch my breathe and sprint again- then at this spot in the photos the “downhill” starts: 5+ minutes of flat out technical Singletrack & I push myself as hard as I can as if it’s a race run- at the bottom I catch my breathe & pedal 30minutes back to the top & do it all again – Usually 2 or 3 times depending how big the race coming up is 😅🥴😅 . The feeling of pouring every element of training into an “on the bike” session is brilliant, addictive, exhausting & perfect race prep 🙏

A post shared by Rachel Atherton (@rachybox) on Oct 4, 2020 at 10:11am PDT

Official details follow.

Press Release Follows

6 times World Champion Rachel Atherton will not be travelling to Leogang this week following intense discussions with her medical team. 

Rachel wrote to her Continental Atherton team partners this afternoon to break the news. 

“As you know, this last year I have been rehabbing my ruptured Achilles tendon, an injury that has tested my mental strength to the limit! 

I knew it would be a long road back to the top, and after intense discussions with my physio of the last 10 years, Doug Jones of Altius Healthcare & long conversations with the rest of the team, I have taken the decision not to race at the World Champs this year because I am just not 100% since my Achilles rupture. 

This is a really hard decision to make, whenever I have been injured in the past I have rushed back quickly and returned to the top step within months, a gruelling task for the body but a task that I relish. I have been working so hard to be ready but unfortunately this time I am just not there yet, and I can’t risk further injury. 

My body has been through so much over the years.  Now I need to listen to what it’s telling me and respect what it has allowed me to achieve by giving it time to fully recover before I do battle again! 

I will keep working hard, keep pushing forward and keep the fire burning.

This sport is a tough game and we must take the ups and the downs, there have been a lot of ups in my career, but also a lot of downs, injuries for me are part of the deal, so I will just keep on working till I’m ready again. 

I’d like to thank all of our team partners and all of the downhill fans who’ve sent me messages of support and encouragement over these last few months – I cant tell you how much it means to me 

I wish all the British team the very best of luck, especially the women and our own Charlie Hatton, so gutted not to be with you – bring those medals home!”