Shropshire Star

Injury heartbreak for Rachel Atherton

Rachel Atherton was left ‘devastated’ after suffering more injury heartbreak as she was forced to pull out of the UCI Mountain Bike World Championship finals in Australia.

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Along with her Trek Factory Racing team-mate Kade Edwards, Atherton – looking to defend her world title in Cairns – withdrew from the GB cycling team after picking up an injury during the training day.

The 29-year-old, from Llanrhaeadr on the Shropshire/Mid-Wales border, sustained a broken collarbone when she clipped a bank in the top turns, and Edwards went down hard on the big jumps knocking himself unconscious. Both withdrew from the finals on medical advice.

“To say I’m absolutely devastated doesn’t even come close,” said Atherton. “I was having so much fun on track, attacking, loving the speed. I felt like my old self for the first time in months, but a broken collarbone put an end to me defending my World Championships title.”

It has been a frustrating season for the record-breaking former Marches School pupil, who had to settle for fourth in the elite women’s world downhill series.

The latest injury was particularly disappointing having proved her fitness after suffering a dislocated shoulder in the World Downhill series in Fort William that halted her winning run in June.