Rachel Atherton has suffered an achilles injury and won't be able to defend her downhill bike World Championship title.

The 31-year-old Brit ruptured her achilles tendon while preparing for the World Cup round in France last month. 

Dubbed "the queen of downhill racing" Atherton boasts an impressive CV including five UCI World Cup titles (2008, 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2016.) An illness in 2014 ruled her out for the season or it could well have been five on the trot for the superstar who also claimed World Champion titles in 2008, 2013, 2015 and 2016.

Atherton was also shortlisted for the Sunday Times Sportswoman of the Year in 2018, losing out to Dina Asher-Smith (athletics).

Arguably the best female mountain biker in the world, Atherton took her record sixth World Cup in 2018 and finished the season with a fifth World Championship; the title she will not be able to defend next month.

Tahnee Seagrave is now the only British female in the elite women's race, having just returned from injury herself.

The World Championships take place in Snowshoe on September 7 & 8 with France's Marine Cabirou gunning for her third top spot in a row.