British rider Evie Richards has become the most decorated female short-track cross-country rider in history with victory in Araxa this weekend.
The reigning world champion made it back-to-back wins in Brazil after winning the opening round of the UCI Cross-country Short Track (XCC) World Cup, held on the same course last weekend, and secured the double on Friday.
It was her seventh win in the short-track discipline and saw her overtake French great and Olympic champion Pauline Ferrand-Prevot in the elite women’s all-time rankings.
"I think when you're world champion and you're leading the series, there's a lot of pressure, so I was really nervous before," she said.
"We had a bit of a rough plan, but nothing changes too much. You've just got to [think] on your feet and depending on how the race goes, you can't really have a plan."
The 28-year-old had an easier time of it in the first round, a race which she hadn’t particularly targeted to win, marking her competitors’ moves and launching a decisive attack on the final steep climb of the race to solo away to victory ahead of New Zealand’s Samara Maxwell.
This time Richards was closely marked by Swiss racer Nicole Koller and Sweden’s Jenny Rissveds, only distancing them in the closing metres with a long-range sprint for the line as the pair failed to hold her wheel.
In the men’s race, American Christopher Blevins also secured the Araxa double after victory on the first weekend of the season.
