Rachel Elisabeth Heal (born 1 April 1973) is an English former

racing cyclist Cycle sport is competitive physical activity using bicycles. There are several categories of bicycle racing including road bicycle racing, cyclo-cross, mountain bike racing, track cycling, BMX, and cycle speedway. Non-racing cycling s ...

, who currently works a

directeur sportif A ''directeur sportif'' (French for sporting director, although the original French term is often used in English-language media; plural ''directeurs sportifs'') is a person directing a cycling team during a road bicycle racing event. It is se ...

for UCI Women's Continental Team .

Career

Professional career

Heal originally took up cycling when she was at Birmingham University as a means of transportation. She joined

British Cycling British Cycling (formerly the British Cycling Federation) is the main national governing body for cycle sport in Great Britain. It administers most competitive cycling in Great Britain, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. It represents Bri ...

's World Class Performance Plan in 2001 to become a full-time cyclist. She turned professional and rode for the Farm Frites team after obtaining a degree in

chemical engineering Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials int ...

. She has competed in world championships,

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

and the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...

. Heal is also a British Cycling level 2 coach, and a qualified personal trainer.

Management career

Heal switched to management when she became co-director of the team in 2010 alongside team-mate Tina Pic, replacing Iona Wynter. After the Colavita team disbanded at the end of 2011, Heal became director of the new team for 2012. Heal left the team at the end of 2013 to join , where she made history in 2014 as the first British woman to direct a men's team at a world tour event.

Major results

;2001 : 2nd Points race,

British National Track Championships The British National Track Championships are held annually and organised by British Cycling (formerly the British Cycling Federation). The main events are various track cycling disciplines for elite athletes to determine the British national cha ...

: 4th Road race, National Road Championships ;2002 : 1st Stage 5

Gracia–Orlová Gracia–Orlová is a women's staged cycle race which takes place in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic and in the Silesian Voivodeship of Poland. It was created in 1987. Since 2004, it starts in Dětmarovice. A mountain stag ...

: National Road Championships ::2nd Road race ::3rd

Time trial In many racing sports, an athlete (or occasionally a team of athletes) will compete in a time trial against the clock to secure the fastest time. The format of a time trial can vary, but usually follow a format where each athlete or team sets off at ...

: 2nd WCRA 2 day, Leicestershire : 3rd Road race,

;2003 : 2nd Road race, National Road Championships : National Track Championships ::2nd Points race ::3rd Individual pursuit : 3rd Ronde van Drenthe ;2004 : 1st Stage 7 Tour de l'Aude Féminin : 1st Stage 1b (TTT) Holland Ladies Tour : 2nd Road race, National Road Championships : 3rd

National Cyclo-cross Championships National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

: 3rd Points race, National Track Championships : 7th Australia World Cup ;2005 : 1st Omnium, Aztec Track Meet : National Road Championships ::2nd Road race ::2nd

: National Track Championships ::2nd Scratch ::2nd Individual pursuit ;2006 : 1st Tri Peaks Stage Race : 1st Tour of Elk Grove Crit : 4th Overall

Tour of the Gila The Tour of the Gila is a cycling stage race for both men and women located in New Mexico, United States. It is sponsored by the component maker SRAM. The "Gila" began in 1987. Beginning in 2012, the men's Gila has been added to the UCI Americ ...

::5th Road race ::5th Time trial ;2007 : 1st Stage 1 (TTT) Tour de Toona : 2nd Road race, National Road Championships : 2nd Overall

::1st Stage 1 (ITT) : 7th Women's Cycling Criteriums ;2008 : 1st Stage 4

: 3rd Sea Otter Classic ;2009 : 7th Sea Otter Circuit Race

References

External links

* *
Results on British Cycling website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heal, Rachel 1973 births Living people People from Bebington Cyclists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Olympic cyclists of Great Britain Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for England Cyclists at the 2002 Commonwealth Games English female cyclists Alumni of the University of Birmingham Commonwealth Games medallists in cycling