Rachel_James
Rachel James
Welsh racing cyclist
Rachel Sarah James (born 1988) is a Welsh racing cyclist specializing in track cycling.
James, from Abergavenny, Wales, is the daughter of David James and Christine Harris,[1] and has a younger sister, Becky, who is a world champion racing cyclist,[2] and also has another two younger sisters; Ffion and Megan, and brother Gareth, who are all keen cyclists. Although Rachel is older than Becky, it was Becky who entered the sport first: she persuaded Rachel to take up cycling, with the hope of the pair representing Wales in the team sprint at the 2014 Commonwealth Games - however these hopes were dashed when the event was removed from the Glasgow games' schedule.[3]
In 2013 James became a pilot for paracyclist Sophie Thornhill.[4] The pair won a gold medal and set a new world record at the 2014 UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships in Aguascalientes in the 1km time trial, on their debut in a major international event.[5] They subsequently won a second gold in the tandem sprint.[6]
James represented Wales at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, 2014[7] where she rode as pilot for former paralympic swimmer Rhiannon Henry.[8] James reunited with Thornhill to compete in the 2014 British National Track Championships in September, where they won the mixed time trial[9] and the 200 metre flying start time trial for blind and visually impaired riders.[10] In addition James took a bronze medal in the team sprint alongside Helen Scott.[11]
