Annie Last scored the biggest result of her mountain biking career on Friday June 26, beating Olympic gold-medalist Sabine Spitz in a thrilling sprint to the line on stage one of the three day Tour de l'Ain, in the French Alps.
In a ride Team GB coach Phil Dixon described as "the most significant of the decade for British women's cross-country" Last, from Sheffield finished day one in second place overall just two minutes behind winner and local favourite, Cecile Ravanel.
Fellow Brit Lilly Matthews took an excellent fifth place with Sharon Laws in twelfth, with a further time trial and 42km race to follow tomorrow.
Ian Bibby and David Fletcher recorded encouraging results in the Elite men's race, finishing seventeenth and eighteenth respectively. In a large group riding at five minutes of winner Alex Vuillermoz, both riders were caught by surprise at the back of the group with one kilometer to go, finishing one minute down at the back of the bunch sprinting for third.
We will have more from the team and detailed results through the weekend as they arrive - check out the British Cycling Team pages.
