Commonwealth Games: Last wins women's mountain bike gold

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Annie Last (England) put in a dominant ride during the women's mountain bike race to claim Commonwealth Games gold. Evie Richards made it a 1-2 for England as she crossed the line 48 seconds in arrears to Last. 

The bronze medal went to Hayley Smith (Canada) with compatriot Emily Batty, the silver medallist in Glasgow, finishing in fourth place. Australian Rebecca McConnell finished sixth while Scotland's Isla Short was fifth.

Flora Duffy, who won gold in the triathlon, was a non-starter for the race to leave just 12 riders in contention for the medals.

On the first of six laps that started and finished in the Nerang Velodrome, 27-year-old Last took the hole shot ahead of Batty with Richards and Smith close behind. Samara Sheppard moved to the front while McConnell looked to be struggling and was in tenth wheel.

On the first hilly and rocky climb, Last lifted the pace and forced a selection. Richards and Short were the only riders able to immediately follow her wheel. Behind, Antri Christoforou (Cyprus) then Likeleli Masitise (Lesotho) both fell on rocky sections of the course.

At the halfway mark of the first lap, Last and Richards had 14 seconds on Short and 22 seconds on Batty. It would be the closest time check of the race. Richards and Last were swapping turns when possible at the head of the race as the duo looked to drive home the early advantage.

On the second last, Richards went solo to put Last in difficulty but the experienced Last was able to close the gap. Last then made her solo winning move on the third lap and would slowly extend her lead lap by lap.

With gold and silver wrapped up by the half way mark of the race, the battle was on for bronze. Despite her bright start, Short succumbed to fatigue with the Canadian duo of Batty and Smith moving in front of her.

Smith then moved into the bronze medal position on the penultimate lap as Batty was forced to step out on several occasions on the climb. Smith would also step off on the same climb in the last lap. There would be no change to the medals in the final lap. The celebrations of Richards and Smith equal to that of Last for her gold medal.

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