Rachel Atherton back on form and back on the podium again

Atherton, who hails from Montgomeryshire, took third place in the recent World Cup Downhill in Leogang, Austria

It was Austria’s Valentina Holl who won in front of her home crowd with a time of three minutes and 23.222 seconds, ahead of Switzerland’s Camille Balanche.

Atherton was 7.334 seconds off the pace and her display came on the back of her win at the World Cup event in Lenzerheide, Switzerland – her 40th World Cup medal.

It has been a top return for Atherton, who has had previously been out of action after giving birth to her daughter, Arna.

Now she has returned and has opened up about how tough it has been getting back into the swing of things.

She said: “Arna sleeping through the night (a recent milestone) has meant that I’m in a better mental state, I feel like it’s allowed me to make good decisions.

“I’m loving the routine of training again and it’s really helped my mental health regularly training, exercising again, and it helps with sleep too!”

The 35-year-old six-time world champion, and first downhill racer to deliver a perfect season, has effectively been away from racing since she snapped her Achilles during practice at Les Gets in France in 2019.

Hopes of a return were ruined by the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, wiping out the whole season, and then Arna came along in August 2021 to push mountain biking further away from Atherton’s thoughts.

She returned for a one-off race last year, a decision she made as she wanted to see if it was possible to compete.

“I wanted to see if it was even enjoyable anymore and if it was possible with a baby,” she said at the time – and has now committed to taking her daughter on the road with her.

“I’ve always wanted to try and put Arna first by breastfeeding on demand and that’s been so amazing but also limiting,” she said. “But I’m glad I’ve taken my time returning to sport and I’m glad I gave myself nearly two years to just be with Arna 24/7 and to just be a mum and be there for her. But she’s still going to travel with me because I feel more relaxed when I get to hang out with her in between the stresses of competition.

“I think leaving her behind would be worse as I’d miss her so much, so my mum’s coming as nanny, and that’s awesome!”

Atherton is the main name in the sport, having racked up multiple titles during her years at the top of her game.

Her CV includes five downhill World Champion titles, and six World Cup wins.

She has won the European Championship, alongside six national champion titles, and was both World and European junior champion.

Despite that success, Atherton, who originally hails from Llangynog, is not chasing silverware anymore, but rather racing for the pure fun of it.

She said: “I’m basically racing for fun, and because the Atherton Bike that I helped design with my brothers and that we manufacture in our home town of Machynlleth is just so good. I’m excited to just compete and see what happens.”