Mountain Bike World Championships: Britain's Evie Richards wins women's cross-country gold

Evie Richards finished seventh at the Tokyo Olympics

Great Britain's Evie Richards won gold in the women's cross-country at the Mountain Bike World Championships.

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.