Behind the podiums, the British pro was navigating illness, setbacks, and the psychological balancing act of elite racing.
Piper Albrecht
From the outside, 2025 was a marquee season for Evie Richards. Her first World Cup short track overall series title and regular appearances at the sharp end of World Cup long-course races showed a return to the form that carried her to the 2021 World Championship. But behind the results sheet was a season disrupted by illness, gaps in training, and mechanical heartbreak when things started to come together.
The margins in modern XC are vanishingly thin, and climbing onto the podium consistently is now the result of a complex equation that requires more than fitness alone. Mental resilience, tactical planning, and adaptability are all crucial. I recently caught up with Richards to discuss her 2025 season. Under her cool, calm, and smiley exterior, Richards reflected on the fragility of what was on the surface a career year, sharing what it taught her about finding stability between elite performance and life beyond the sport, as well as about winning.
In the conversation, Richards explained how she found a new level of consistency in short track racing and why mental discipline can be as decisive as physical preparation. She also reflected on the quieter pressure of maintaining her trademark positivity, even when things were crumbling beneath the surface.
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Looking ahead, she discussed her long-term focus on the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics and the changes the buildup to her third Olympic Games has already brought, from new coaching input and renewed psychological support to altitude training blocks and a broader performance reset under the British Cycling umbrella. She also hinted at cycling ambitions that could eventually take her beyond mountain biking.
Alex Hunt: Looking back at 2025, it was obviously a really successful season for you, but how would you describe it in your own words?
Evie Richards: On paper, it looked like a really good year, but it felt very hard for me. I had loads of setbacks, more setbacks with illness than I’ve ever had in my career. When you have an illness, it normally means one or two weeks out. So when you add up four or five of those, and that’s a lot of training missed that you have to come back from.
I think people are like, “Oh, you had such an amazing year,” and from my social media, it looked great as well, but actually, it was a really, really hard year. So I was pleased with what I achieved, considering everything that went on.
Richards made the conscious decision to race for every position – even when the win was off the table – throughout the short track season, something that she ultimately believes gave her the upper hand in the overall.
AH: You’d had a lot of success before 2025 in short track, but this past season, you managed to put it together and claim the overall title. Did anything change that allowed you to be as consistent as you needed to be?
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