Evie Richards soared to the elite women’s short track world title as Charlie Aldridge and Ella Maclean-Howell secured silvers in the elite men’s short track and under-23 women’s cross-country disciplines on the third day of the 2024 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Andorra.
Elite women’s short track
Evie Richards rode a ferocious elite women’s short track race, timing her sprint to perfection to beat Olympic champion Pauline Ferrand-Prevot.
Richards fired off the start line from the second row, sprinting ferociously out of the first bend to sit inside the top 10. The first kilometre time-check saw Richards in fifth position, with Ferrand-Prevot (France) riding away with ease. As Jenny Rissveds (Sweden) bridged over on the third lap, Richards sat in sixth position and moved up into fourth on the climb.
The two in front were ahead by five seconds, with Richards firmly glued to Puck Pieterse’s (Netherlands) wheel as they rode away from the main group. Reaching the halfway point, the pair were seven seconds back from the leading duo.
Going up the climb for the fifth time, Richards attacked to move past Pieterse and hone in on Rissved’s wheel. Descending with ease, the British rider closed the gap quickly, sitting in third position with four laps remaining, and overtook Rissved as they crossed the finish line to move up into second.
Richards put in another attack up the climb to smash past the Olympic champion and move into first place. A fast descender, Richards continued to put the power down, but the experience of Ferrand-Prevot saw her bridge over to Richards’ wheel. The British rider stayed calm at the front, climbing and descending with ease on the penultimate lap.
Taking the bell, Richards remained in first place, before Ferrand-Prevot moved passed up the climb, attacking hard. Richards stayed in reaching distance, closing the gap on the descent and continued to be glued to the wheel of Ferrand-Prevot as the battle for gold ensued.
A hard sprint round the final bend saw the pair grimacing in pain, but Richards’ power was unstoppable and she crossed the line ahead of Ferrand-Prevot to take the world title.
Speaking after the win, Richards said:
“I really can’t believe it! I wanted to win so badly. Honestly when she [Ferrand Prevot] stayed on my wheel, I thought, ‘I don’t know if I’ll be able to come back again’ but I just waited until the sprint. I didn’t think that last bit was long enough, but it obviously was. I can’t believe it, I’m so happy!
“I was just like ‘just stay on her wheel and I’ve been sprinting so much. I’ve been here three weeks training at altitude so I knew if it would come down to a sprint, I’d be okay as I’d practiced it so much. I was just hoping that I could take it, but I really didn’t think it would happen. I just had to keep believing in myself today.”
Annie Last finished in 16th place after a fantastic ride.
Elite men’s short track
Charlie Aldridge rode a brilliant race to secure a sensational silver medal in his first elite world championship race.
Aldridge had a fantastic start, sitting in third position and maintaining the pace with ease for the opening half of the race as Jordan Sarrou (France) led from the off.
Despite being in the first row, Tom Pidcock had an unfortunate start and suffered a small crash to sit just outside the top 20. On the fifth lap, the Olympic champion began to make moves and pick riders off one by one.
Aldridge continued to put the power down, tussling from fifth to third position through the climbs and descents, coming into the seventh lap in fourth. A little further back, Pidcock continued to fight, chasing hard and moving into 12th place on the eighth lap.
As French pair Viktor Koretzky and Sarrou attacked on the line into the ninth lap, Aldridge just lost distance and remained in sixth place but attacked hard up the climb to move into fifth and stay in contention.
As Koretzky went solo, Aldridge made a daring move in the bend past Sarrou and moved into second place on the final lap. With Christopher Blevins (USA) and Alan Hatherly (South Africa) hot on his wheel, Aldridge wouldn’t let up on his relentless pace, gapping the pair in the final section. Turning into the final straight, the Scottish rider sprinted hard but was unable to catch the French rider, taking a sensational silver medal three seconds behind.
Pidcock recovered well to take eighth place, just 23 seconds behind, and will look to defend his world title in the cross-country race on Sunday.
Under-23 short track
Ella Maclean-Howell kicked off the British medal wins today with a silver in the under-23 short track race. The British rider finished 22 seconds behind Isabella Holmgren (Canada), while her sister Ava Holmgren (Canada) earned the bronze.
Racing the first ever world under-23 short track race, Maclean-Howell started strongly, battling with the Canadian favourites in a bid for the front. The British rider was the first to kick, gaining a four second advantage inside the first lap. Isabella Holmgren managed to overtake Maclean-Howell on the second lap and rode away solo to take the win. Maclean-Howell stayed in control, gaining nine seconds on the Canadian rider, and fought all the way to the line to gain a fantastic silver medal.
In the men’s equivalent, national champion Max Greensill and Joe Blackmore both started strongly. Riding his first ever under-23 short track race at world level, Greensill showed his skill and speed, riding a composed race to take a commendable 17th place, one minute behind the leader.
Having been gridded near the back with his extensive road riding this season, Blackmore was moving through the pack nicely before he suffered a crash on the descent. The British rider continued to ride but withdrew shortly after and is recovering well off the bike.
Junior cross-country final
The junior cross-country riders kicked off their individual racing campaign with the cross-country race. Max Standen was the top British junior man, finishing in 39th place, while Alex Hart came home 55th and Inness McDonald finished 63rd.
The junior women saw Bethany-Ann Jackson have a fantastic race, finishing in 32nd place in her world championship debut. Daisy Taylor crossed the line in 43rd, with Madeline Moorhouse-Smith just behind in 47th. Evie Strachan put in a commendable effort to finish 57th.
Competition continues tomorrow with the men’s and women’s elite downhill finals.
