Cyclist set for Olympics after concussion setback

Evie Richards crossed the finish line fifth in a mountain bike World Series event in Switzerland on Sunday

Commonwealth champion cyclist Evie Richards is "super happy" to be going to the Olympics after a recent concussion, says her former mentor.

The Malvern athlete will compete for Team GB in the women's mountain bike event in Paris 2024.

Tracey Moseley, a world champion cyclist who coached Richards as a junior, said she still had "fighting spirit" despite a difficult build-up.

"I know she's super happy to be getting there this year," she said.

Richards, 27, was injured at the start of May after landing badly during a World Cup event in Brazil.

Writing on social media, the 2021 mountain bike cross-country world champion described her recovery as "a very frustrating process".

"May you were a terrible month," she wrote. "I never really knew how serious and hard concussion would be.

"I've cried more than I realised was possible and have just been a bear hibernating since Brazil."

After returning to competing, she finished fifth in the UCI Mountain Bike World Series, in Crans Montana, Switzerland, on Sunday.

Paris 2024 will be Commonwealth champion Evie Richards' second Olympics, after finishing seventh in Tokyo

Ms Moseley, also from Malvern, said she recognised Richard's talent at a local coaching session about ten years ago.

"We could see that she had some serious talent," she said. "She's got such an incredible determination and this ability to kind of put herself in the hurt locker."

She added: "I still feel like we’ve got more to come from Evie.

"She's always super happy to be where she is and grateful for the opportunities that mountain biking has given her."

Richards' dad Gareth said the family would be fully behind her in Paris, the athlete's second Olympics.

"Everyone's quite realistic about it. You miss six weeks just before the Olympics you’re not going to go in there as a favourite," he said.

"But if anyone's going to give it a good blast, it'll certainly be Evie."

He added his daughter was proud of her roots in the Malvern Hills.

"She’s always on a bike, she absolutely loves, loves the hills," he said.