Personal information | |
---|---|
Full name | Rachel Heal |
Born |
England United Kingdom |
April 1, 1973
Team information | |
Current team | UnitedHealthcare Women's Team |
Discipline | Road, Track & Cyclo-cross |
Role | Rider, Directeur Sportif |
Amateur team(s) | |
1997-? | Birkenhead Northend Cycling Club |
2000 | Letchworth Velo |
2007 | Rapha Condor |
Professional team(s) | |
2004 | Farm Frites |
2005 | Team SATS |
2006 | Team Victory Brewing |
2007 | Team Webcor |
2008 | Team TIBCO |
2009 | Team Colavita |
Managerial team(s) | |
2010-2011 | Team Colavita |
2012-2013 | Team Optum |
2014- | UnitedHealthcare Women's Team |
Rachel Heal (born April 1, 1973 in Bebington, Wirral, Cheshire) is an English former racing cyclist.
Heal originally took up cycling when she was at university as a means of transportation. She joined British Cycling's World Class Performance Plan in 2001 when she gave up her job as a product engineer at Cadbury to become a full-time cyclist. She turned professional and rode for the Belgian Farm Frites-Hartol team after obtaining a degree in chemical engineering from Birmingham University. She has competed in world championships, Commonwealth Games and the Olympic Games. Heal is also a British Cycling level 2 coach, and a qualified personal trainer.
Heal switched to management when she became co-director of the Colavita 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 Optum team for 2012. Heal left the team at the end of 2013 to join UnitedHealthcare.