Mountain Bike World Championships 2021 [FULL RACE – XCO] (ladies)

August 28, 2021

Mountain Bike World Championships 2021 – XCO WE – Val di Sole

For the first time since 2019, a full UCI Mountain Bike World Championships will take place this week in Val di Sole, in the northeast of Italy. This year, the full complement of categories – junior, under-23 and elite – will race in every event. Val di Sole, in the Trentino region, is no newcomer to the top level of the sport, having hosted both the World Championships and multiple World Cups over the past two decades. Usually it is hot and dusty but weather forecasts call for temperatures in the high-teens and rain for the entire week. Nevertheless, riders will face long and steep climbs and steep, root-filled descents that will be more treacherous than usual if the expected rain does materialise. Each lap of the four-kilometre cross-county circuit includes 190 metres of elevation gain.

Evie Richards became the first-ever British world champion – male or female – in the elite cross-country at the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships on Saturday in Val di Sole, Italy, after a dominating performance in the women’s race. Behind her, Anne Terpstra recorded the first-ever podium appearance for a Dutch woman, and the best result for the Netherlands since Bart Brentjens won the men’s world title in 1995. The powerhouse Swiss team had to settle for a bronze medal from Sina Frei.

Despite weather forecasts all week calling for rain and temperatures in the mid-teens, race day was warm and sunny, with only a few drops of rain falling. The hot, dry conditions turned the course into a blown-out, rutted dust bowl.

Defending world champion Pauline Ferrand Prevot of France jumped into the lead at the end of the start loop, opening a significant gap on the first lap over a chase group containing Richards, Frei, Olympic champion Jolanda Neff (Switzerland), Terpstra, Maja Wloszczowska (Poland) and Rebecca McConnell (Australia). By the end of the first lap, Ferrand Prevot was over half a minute clear, but Richards wasn’t happy with the situation and dropped the rest of the chasers to join her French rival by the end of the second lap.

Richards didn’t pause after catching Ferrand Prevot, motoring away on the steep climbs to a 38-second lead by the end of the third lap. Ferrand Prevot was fading (eventually finishing sixth), and was caught by Terpstra early in the penultimate fourth lap, who had dropped the remaining chasers to go off in solo pursuit.

Richards continued to extend her lead through the rest of the race – faster on both the climbs and descents – to win by over a minute. Frei and Neff rode together in the bronze medal battle until the final metres of the race, with Frei, the Olympic silver medalist, beating Neff in a sprint.

“Today I’m not sure how much tactics played a part,” said Richards, “because I just rode at the front. I was pleased that I got a good start, that was the main thing, and then it was just about keeping calm. In that sense, I had the perfect race and didn’t make any mistakes. I didn’t want to get sucked into [Pauline’s] fast start, because then I wouldn’t be able to recover; it’s a very hard course. I saw that in the Junior race early, with some riders going out too quick. It paid off, I think.”

Terpstra echoed Richards’ comments: “I think I kind of had the same tactic as Evie, but I didn’t make a really good start [in the start loop] and I had to come from further behind. If you do a smooth race here and take good lines in the technical sections then you can go far, and I think that is what brought me this medal.”

Results :
1 Evie Richards (Great Britain) 1:23:52
2 Anne Terpstra (Netherlands) 0:01:03
3 Sina Frei (Switzerland) 0:01:08
4 Jolanda Neff (Switzerland)
5 Maja Wloszczowska (Poland) 0:01:47
6 Pauline Ferrand Prevot (France) 0:02:35
7 Rebecca Mcconnell (Australia) 0:02:45
8 Anne Tauber (Netherlands) 0:02:56
9 Malene Degn (Denmark) 0:03:17
10 Alessandra Keller (Switzerland) 0:03:20
11 Nina Benz (Germany) 0:03:54
12 Linda Indergand (Switzerland) 0:04:13
13 Lena Gerault (France) 0:04:23
14 Isla Short (Great Britain) 0:04:41
15 Sophie Von Berswordt (Netherlands) 0:05:09
16 Janika Lõiv (Estonia) 0:05:57
17 Nadine Rieder (Germany) 0:06:04
18 Yana Belomoina (Ukraine)
19 Katarzyna Solus-Miskowicz (Poland) 0:06:08
20 Martina Berta (Italy) 0:06:33
21 Greta Seiwald (Italy)
22 Catharine Pendrel (Canada) 0:06:48
23 Kate Courtney (United States Of America) 0:06:50
24 Eva Lechner (Italy)
25 Sandra Walter (Canada) 0:07:01
26 Haley Batten (United States Of America) 0:07:21
27 Kristina Ilina (Russian Federation) 0:07:43
28 Ramona Forchini (Switzerland) 0:08:01
29 Githa Michiels (Belgium) 0:08:09
30 Candice Lill (South Africa) 0:08:21
31 Annie Last (Great Britain) 0:08:35
32 Jana Czeczinkarová (Czech Republic) 0:08:43
33 Kelsey Urban (United States Of America) 0:08:49
34 Steffi Häberlin (Switzerland) 0:09:04
35 Barbara Benkó (Hungary) 0:09:12
36 Hannah Finchamp (United States Of America) 0:09:31
37 Chiara Teocchi (Italy) 0:09:44
38 Tanja Žakelj (Slovenia) 0:10:03
39 Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado (Netherlands) 0:10:17
40 Jitka Čábelická (Czech Republic) 0:10:26
41 Elisabeth Osl (Austria) 0:10:31
42 Nicole Koller (Switzerland) 0:10:37
43 Laurie Arseneault (Canada) 0:10:41
44 Lotte Koopmans (Netherlands) 0:10:47
45 Tereza Tvarůžková (Czech Republic) 0:11:32
46 Jennifer Jackson (Canada) 0:12:30
47 Paula Gorycka (Poland) 0:12:56
48 Cindy Montambault (Canada) 0:13:36
49 Emily Batty (Canada)
50 Janka Keseg Stevkova (Slovakia)
51 Viktoria Kirsanova (Russian Federation)
52 Mariske Strauss (South Africa)
53 Faranak Partoazar (Islamic Republic of Iran)
54 Naama Noyman (Israel)
55 Leticia Jaqueline Soares Candido (Brazil)
56 Maria Trinidad Moreno Camus (Chile)
57 Elisabeth Brandau (Germany)
DNF Evelyn Muñoz Jaramillo (Chile)
DNF Linn Gustafzzon (Sweden)
DNF Haley Smith (Canada)
DNS Jenny Rissveds (Sweden)
DNS Lea Davison (United States Of America)
DNS Josefina Casadey (Argentina)