2018 Commonwealth Games 2018: Elite Women Cross Country Results

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Evie Richards, Annie Last (England) and Hayley Smith (Canada) (Image credit: Getty Images)

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Evie Richards (England) and Annie Last (England) take the front two positions (Image credit: Getty Images)

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Air time for Evie Richards (England) (Image credit: Getty Images)

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Hayley Smith (Canada) gets air (Image credit: Getty Images)

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Rebecca McConnell (Australia) salutes the crowd (Image credit: Getty Images)

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Evie Richards and Annie Last (England) after the duo went 1-2 (Image credit: Getty Images)

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Evie Richards and Annie Last (England) with their medals (Image credit: Getty Images)

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Evie Richards and Annie Last (England) pose for photos (Image credit: Getty Images)

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Bronze for Hayley Smith (Canada) (Image credit: Getty Images)

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Annie Last (England) rides to gold (Image credit: Getty Images)

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Thumbs up from gold medallist Annie Last (England) (Image credit: Getty Images)

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Annie Last (England) riding solo to gold (Image credit: Getty Images)

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Evie Richards leads Annie Last (England) in the early laps (Image credit: Getty Images)

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Samara Sheppard (New Zealand) (Image credit: Getty Images)

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Emily Batty (Canada) riding to fourth (Image credit: Getty Images)

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Cherie Redecker (South Africa) (Image credit: Getty Images)

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Evie Richards (England) (Image credit: Getty Images)

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Isla Short (Scotland) (Image credit: Getty Images)

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Annie Last (England) (Image credit: Getty Images)

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Michelle Vorster (Namibia) (Image credit: Getty Images)

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Rebecca McConnell (Australia) (Image credit: Getty Images)

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Hayley Smith (Canada) (Image credit: Getty Images)

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Haley Smith takes the front position on lap 1 (Image credit: Getty Images)

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Antri Christoforou (Cyprus) on the rocky section (Image credit: Getty Images)

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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.

Full Results

#	Rider Name (Country) Team	Result
1	Annie Last (England)	1:18:02
2	Evie Richards (England)	0:00:48
3	Haley Smith (Canada)	0:02:24
4	Emily Batty (Canada)	0:03:00
5	Isla Short (Scotland)	0:03:32
6	Rebecca McConnell (Australia)	0:04:30
7	Mariske Strauss (South Africa)	0:04:48
8	Michelle Vorster (Namibia)	0:05:35
9	Samara Sheppard (New Zealand)	0:05:44
10	Antri Christoforou (Cyprus)	- 1 lap
11	Cherie Redecker (South Africa)
12	Likeleli Masitise (Lesotho)	- 4 laps
DNS	Flora Duffy (Bermuda)

Zeb Woodpower

Zeb Woodpower is the Australian editor at Cyclingnews. Based in Sydney, Zeb provides an Australian perspective on the sport with articles ranging from the local to the global . He joined Cyclingnews in 2013.

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