Great Britain’s Evie Richards won gold in the women’s cross-country at the Mountain Bike World Championships.
She finished in one hour, 23 minutes and 52 seconds to claim the rainbow jersey in Italy and become the first British female cross-country world champion.
The 24-year-old finished ahead of the Netherlands’ Anne Terpstra (second) and Sina Frei of Switzerland (third).
“I can’t believe it, I’m really shocked,” said a tearful Richards.
“I didn’t have much confidence going into this race, I said I’ll shine one day and today is my time to shine.
“I really didn’t think I’d be able to do that today, I never thought I’d be good enough to win a race like this.
“With Covid it’s been really hard but I tried to stay positive. When I’m happy I race well and I’ve truly been happy the last three weeks at home.”
Fellow Brits Isla Short and Annie Last finished 14th and 31st respectively.
The defending champion of the last two years Pauline Ferrand Prevot came sixth.
Richards was racing for the first time since the Tokyo Olympics, where she came seventh.
The men’s cross-country race was won by Nino Schurter of Switzerland in 1:22:31, with fellow countryman Mathias Flueckiger coming second and France’s Victor Koretzky in third.
