When Evie Richards (Trek-Unbroken XC) crashed on the second-last lap of the XCO race at the Whoop UCI Mountain Bike Series in Nové Město it was one of those moments when you hold your breath.
Richards had been in hot pursuit of leading rider Laura Stigger (Specialized Factory Racing) during lap six of seven, but then off-camera there was a crash. The first sign of this was a yellow flag and Richards' bike being lifted over the barrier and off the course, with the rider also lying largely obscured behind a wide section of material course marker.
It was clear there was no intent to get up and continue the pursuit for Richards, with the British rider, who has already had to grapple with a considerable set of injuries so far in her career, looking to be facing another.
It was with relief that the commentary team could pipe in with an update, after Rissveds took victory, that let viewers know that Richards was at least conscious. Then hours later, after a trip to hospital for further medical examinations, Richards and her team put out an update on social media.
"Normally I get up quick but that crashed [sic] scared me," Richards said in text posted on an Instagram story. "X-rays showed nothing is broken in my neck.
"I had a big hit to the head so will need some time to recover. Thanks to the medics / ambulance and [for] all the kind messages."
Her team also shared the post and made clear that rest was now what was required for the rider, who has in the past had to grapple with a debilitating concussion, a partially dislocated knee, a lower back injury and, most recently, wrist injuries before returning for the start of the World Cup in South Korea.
"Evie is all okay. She will be resting up at home for the foreseeable future," said her team on social media.
Richards won the overall World Series short-track (XCC) last year and had started the weekend of racing at Nové Město with fourth in the XCC, having come second in the fast and furious form of racing during the opening round in YongPyong. That has left her third on the leaderboard for that category, on 350 points, along with second-placed Laura Stigger (Specialized Factory Racing), while Sina Frei (Specialized Factory Racing) is on top of the rankings with 390 points.
The next cross-country round of the series is just three weeks away in Leogang, Austria, running across June 11-14.
