Annie Last put in a great ride at the World Champs in Cairns to finish second and take the silver. She’s done what no elite-level British Woman has ever done in the cross country discipline and stood on the podium at a UCI World Mountain Bike Championships (Caroline Alexander came sixth in 2001). After her recent World Cup win it was clear that she’d put the injuries and uncertainty of the past behind her. This event cements her position back at the top of elite mountain bike racing and it also gives critics of British Cycling (including us) some answers to the ‘So where are all our cross country racers then?’ questions.
The BC Report is below. A full report on the event, with videos and interviews, as well as the performance of the rest of the team can be found here.
ANNIE LAST WINS SILVER AT THE UCI MOUNTAIN BIKE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Great Britain Cycling Team’s Annie Last made history overnight by winning the silver medal at the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Cairns, Australia, becoming the first British woman to win a medal at elite world championship level.
“It feels amazing,” Last said. “I’ve had a tough couple of years. I’m just happy to be back racing at the front of the race instead of pushing to just get through it.
“I felt good going into this, I liked the track and made some good decisions on how I was going to ride the race.
“I don’t think it has sunk in yet, to be on the podium is so good.”
Switzerland’s Jolanda Neff won the gold medal.
A bit daft to put spoiler alert in the title above yet list “Annie Last podiums in Cairns” in the “Don’t Miss” section on the page
F A N T A S T I C !!! 🙂
Brilliant
Top stuff, well done Annie.
Even dafter to come on a cycling site and not expect to find the results or a post relating the racing events just taking place ……
Well done annie
Just caught up with this on Red Bull TV, great ride by Annie Last and an amazing ride by Jolanda Neff.
AAA+++ Miss Last. Wonderful season.
Now I don’t have the stats but is women’s cycling more successful than the men’s. Well at least if you ignore road events. It’s got to be in track and mountain biking.
podium is a noun, not a verb.
Hey, at least we didn’t used ‘winningest’, Reggie 🙂
Excellent result IMHO. Need to get more focus on women in the sport at this level. Hopefully then get more involvement from grassroots upwards.
jamj – Ninos comments regarding the young rider programme in Switzerland made it sound “normal” as opposed to the exception and perhaps the result is the Swiss strength in XCO. Those crazy Europeans love their XCO.
Not that I’d want to be picky or anything, but shouldn’t there be an XC somewhere in that sentence “She’s done what no elite-level British Woman has ever done…”? I may be completely wrong of course but I’m almost sure an elite-level British woman has had a podium finish in UCI World Champs recently, Downhill, not XC – ummm, Rachel something-or-other maybe?
Although, fair do’s, XC is **REAL** mountain biking, involving pedaling uphill as well as down so I don’t suppose being Downhill champ counts.
Anyway, big big chapeau to Annie for sticking to it after pretty well everyone else had lost faith in her.
Fixed for you, Oceandweller.
Brilliant! Great rider – i loved watching her World Cup win, fighting through the field, tenacity, great bike handling skills. Terrific athlete & here’s to many more successes.