Shropshire mountain bike sensation Rachel Atherton confirmed herself as the best female downhill rider in the world with victory at the Mont-Saint-Anne leg of the UCI World Cup.It was a remarkable return to action for Atherton after being airlifted to hospital a week earlier after colliding with a tree on her home course in Llangynog near Bala.

Atherton flew down the rain-soaked course in Quebec to beat Frenchwomen Sabrina Jonnier by 1.43 seconds.

“The rainbow jersey hasn’t changed anything because I always knew I could win,” she said. “It sounds a bit arrogant but I know that I’m the fastest, even when my race results don’t say that”

Newly crowned world champion Gee Atherton, brother of Rachel, finished third in the men’s event behind Greg Minnaar of South Africa and Australia’s Sam Hill.

It was also a good weekend for Shrewsbury’s Fionn Griffiths, who is now fifth in both the downhill and 4X events in the World Cup.

Griffiths finished fifth in the downhill race, recovering from a collision to burn through the bottom section.

The 4X track was deemed too dangerous for practice but recovered just in time for Saturday’s racing.

After progressing to the finals with an excellent win over Anneke Beerten and Anita Molchik, Griffiths rode solidly to finish third.