The 35-year-old sent the mountain bike world into a frenzy when he won his 40th World Cup in the first round of the DH World Cup a Lenzerheide last weekend.
In her last Andorran win in 2019, Atherton only started training two months ago and has juggled her pursuit of cycling fitness and caring for her 22-month-old daughter (Arna).
He originally planned to spend an extra couple of days on holiday in Switzerland with his family before returning home to Wales to focus on training ahead of August's World Championships in Fort William.
But the temptation to race again proved strong and Atherton announced earlier in the week that he would contest round two in Leogang, Austria. The 6-time world champion says getting into shape was a real balancing act.
I trained for about two months, I did what I could, not at the level I was used to, but as best as possible while Arna took a nap. But I think people are surprised that he says this. I live at the Dyfi Bike Park literally next door and go there every weekend and two or three days a week. Must be good to ride all day in the bike park. Great runs, it's been down for more than five minutes, so it's a fantastic workout and you don't really realize you're training Rachel Atherton
The 650-acre park in northwest Wales is an Atherton family affair with enduro tracks and downhill designed by brother Dan, himself a legend of the sport.
Representing her family's Continental Atherton squad, six-time overall World Cup winner Rachel says she's thrilled with her progression.
"Brendan [Fairclough] and Danny [Hart} and Jordan Williams are there often and Bernard [Kerr] has moved to our town, so there's a good group of riders to ride with. He is continuing to improve the park"
Atherton says whatever happens to Leogang, his goal is the world championships in Fort William, Scotland.
"For me this year, the goal is to win the world championships, I know I have a solid few months of training before then so I can be much stronger and fitter and these races were all about that".
Good luck to the great Rachel!
