Rachel Sarah James (born 1988) is a Welsh racing cyclist specializing in track cycling.

James, from Abergavenny, Wales, is the daughter of David James and Christine Harris,^[1] and has a younger sister, Becky, who is a world champion racing cyclist,^[2] and also has another two younger sisters; Ffion and Megan, and brother Gareth, who are all keen cyclists. Although Rachel is older than Becky, it was Becky who entered the sport first: she persuaded Rachel to take up cycling, with the hope of the pair representing Wales in the team sprint at the 2014 Commonwealth Games - however these hopes were dashed when the event was removed from the Glasgow games' schedule.^[3]

In 2013 James became a pilot for paracyclist Sophie Thornhill.^[4] The pair won a gold medal and set a new world record at the 2014 UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships in Aguascalientes in the 1km time trial, on their debut in a major international event.^[5] They subsequently won a second gold in the tandem sprint.^[6]

James represented Wales at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, 2014^[7] where she rode as pilot for former paralympic swimmer Rhiannon Henry.^[8] James reunited with Thornhill to compete in the 2014 British National Track Championships in September, where they won the mixed time trial^[9] and the 200 metre flying start time trial for blind and visually impaired riders.^[10] In addition James took a bronze medal in the team sprint alongside Helen Scott.^[11]