Evie Richards wins everything at Snowshoe and takes the last XCO World Cup of 2021

The last World Cup race came once again to Snowshoe and this year it did so with several new technical sections that have left us with a very spectacular race. But British rider Evie Richards didn't give any options and after winning the Short Track on Friday she was again the fastest and also took the victory in the XCO race.

Evie Richards wins 2021 Snowshoe XCO World Cup

The start at Snowshoe was as fast as ever, but the straight up to the first curve was a bit narrow and just in the first meters we saw a very violent crash of the Canadian Laurie Arseneault. This caused a first cut that left some favourites like Kate Courtney or Laura Stiger far behind.

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At the front, Evie Richards managed to take the lead alongside Linda Indergand, Jenny Rissveds, Sina Frei, Jolanda Neff and Rocío del Alba García. The Spaniard had made an exceptional start and was holding the pace of the strongest.

At Snowshoe the race is held over 6 laps without an initial loop and at the start of lap 2 Richards was still leading but some riders had dropped out of the group, such as Rocío who was fighting to stay in the lead, and others had joined in, such as Australian Rebecca McConnell.

In fact it was Bec McConnell who launched the first hardest attack of the race and on lap 2 she managed to open a significant gap with the rest. Only Evie Richards was trying to catch her and she was still 3 seconds behind her, but Jenny Rissveds was already third about 15 seconds behind.

McConnell's good performance came to a sudden halt when a flat tyre forced her to stop in the technical area. Although the change was very quick, Evie Richards took the lead, 16 seconds ahead of the chasing group of Jenny Rissveds, Sina Frey and McConnell herself.

But McConnell made it clear that the flat tyre had not put an end to the good feeling she was having and soon went in search of Evie Richards, who was already 26 seconds ahead, leaving Sina Frei and Jenny Rissveds behind.

One of the worst images of the day was the withdrawal of the American Kate Courtney, the SCOTT SRAM rider has not had her weekend and after a crash in the Short Track on Friday and being involved in the cut-off at the start of the race, she decided to put an end to a very emotional World Cup for her because it was held in her country.

Meanwhile, Great Britain's Evie Richards continued to ride solo and from the first position she did not slow down. Despite McConnell's attempt, the timing did not deceive and Richards was already 50 seconds ahead of the Australian.

The penultimate lap started without major changes, although after Richards and McConnel, Dutch rider Anne Tauber was now third with Sina Frei on her wheel. Jenny Rissveds was not at her best and was running in fourth, losing time.

Spanish rider Rocío del Alba deserves a special mention as she was having a great race and was fighting in ninth position to reach the finish line in the top 10. Right behind Rocío was Jolanda Neff.

The final lap bell rang as Evie Richards crossed the finish line arch with the Briton 1:31 minutes ahead of McConnell and 2:05 minutes ahead of Anne Tauber. It now looked very difficult for the reigning World Champion to escape victory.

With the first and second positions almost decided, the battle was on for third place on the podium. Sina Frei tried an attack on the last lap to get rid of Anne Tauber, but the Dutchwoman was reluctant to stay.

Evie Richards didn't miss a beat and finished solo to take the win of the Snowshoe 2021 XCO World Cup. The British rider won the Short Track and XCO event in Lenzerheide a few days ago and did the same again in Snowshoe.

Australia's Rebecca McConnell was second and the Netherlands' Anne Tauber third. Switzerland's Sina Frei finally came fourth and Anne Terpstra finished fifth ahead of Jenny Rissveds.

Results Elite Women 2021 Snowshoe XCO World Cup