Rachel Neylan

Rachel Neylan
	Neylan at the finish of the 2018 Amstel Gold Race
Personal information
Full name	Rachel Neylan
Born	9 March 1982 (age 42); Sydney, Australia
Height	169 cm (5 ft 7 in)
Weight	53 kg (117 lb)
Team information
Current team	Retired
Discipline	Road
Role	Rider
Amateur team
2020	Casa Dorada Women Cycling
Professional teams
2011	Diadora–Pasta Zara
2012	Abus–Nutrixxion
2013	Team Hitec Products
2015–2017	Orica–AIS
2018	Movistar Team
2019	Team Virtu Cycling
2020–2021	Cronos–Casa Dorada
2021	Parkhotel Valkenburg
2022–2023	Cofidis
Major wins
	One day races Grand Prix de Plumelec-Morbihan Dames (2016) Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race (2015)

Rachel Neylan (born 9 March 1982) is an Australian former professional road cyclist. She won a silver medal at the 2012 World Championships in the women's road race event.^[7] She won the inaugural women's Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race in January 2015.^[8]

Early life

Neylan was born in Sydney, Australia. She competed in athletics throughout her teenage years, before taking up rowing. She studied at the University of Sydney after which she became a physiotherapist.^[9]^[10] Between 2006 and 2007, she worked as a physiotherapist for the Australian rowing team.^[10]^[11]

Career

In late 2007, Neylan was accepted onto the development program at the South Australian Sports Institute. She rode domestic Australian races throughout 2008 and rode in both the US and Europe during the 2009 season, before signing with Team System Data for the 2010 season.^[9] During the season she finished fourth at the Australian National Road Race Championships,^[12] however was forced out of the 2010 UCI Road World Championships after crashing on a training ride in Italy resulting in a broken jaw.^[13]

Neylan signed for the Diadora–Pasta Zara team for the 2011 season.^[13] She then moved to Abus–Nutrixxion for the 2012 season,^[14] during which time she finished second in the World Championships Road Race behind Marianne Vos,^[15] before signing with Team Hitec Products for the 2013 season.^[14] However, she struggled with a knee injury during the 2013 season, and after recovering was hit by a car in 2014 which injured her knee a second time.^[10]

In early 2015, Neylan finished second at the National Road Race championships and won the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race,^[12] which resulted in her signing a contract for Orica–AIS.^[16] Neylan competed in the road race at the 2016 Summer Olympics, finishing in 22nd position.^[17]

Neylan rode for Team Virtu Cycling during the 2019 season, during which time she won a stage at the Gracia–Orlová^[18] and recorded two more Top 10 finishes in the WorldTour.^[10] At the end of 2019, Virtu Cycling closed the women's team and Neylan signed for new Spanish outfit Cronos–Casa Dorada. However one of the major backers of the team pulled their funding, preventing Neylan from taking part in the races required for her to qualify for the 2020 Summer Olympics. During the 2021 mid-season transfer window, Neylan moved to Parkhotel Valkenburg.^[10] In August 2021, Neylan finished sixth overall in the Ladies Tour of Norway.^[12]