Caroline Buchanan wins mountain bike world title less than a month after Rio Olympics BMX devastation

AUSTRALIAN cyclist Caroline Buchanan has shown her champion qualities, winning a world title less than a month after Olympic heartbreak - in a different discipline.

Caroline Buchanan atop the podium after her latest MTB world title.

AUSTRALIAN cyclist Caroline Buchanan has shown her champion qualities, winning a world title less than a month after Olympic heartbreak - in a different discipline.

Buchanan has won the downhill four-cross at the UCI mountain bike and trials world championships at Val di Sole, Italy, taking out a dramatic final in which two rivals crashed at the first turn.

The result comes a matter of weeks after she crashed out in the BMX semi-finals of the Rio Olympics, leaving in tears after entering the event as gold medal favourite.

Having bounced back in stunning fashion on a totally different bike, she is now a seven-time world champion. Today’s triumph was her fourth MTB world title, while she boasts three BMX titles - including a time trial crown won earlier this year.

To top things off, she became engaged before this latest title to fellow pro rider Barry Nobles.

4X results #MTBWorlds
1- @CBuchanan68 #AUS 🏅
2- Meyer #GER
3- @annekebeerten #NED pic.twitter.com/IxuE5lKT3S

— UCI MTB (@UCI_MTB) September 9, 2016

.@CBuchanan68 is 4X World Champion! She can ride what she wants!! 🌈🏅 #MTBWorlds https://t.co/DyBdzWRBXv

— UCI MTB (@UCI_MTB) September 9, 2016

What a day...flew into Italy🇮🇹 @BarryNobles95 proposed💍 & had my first practice session on the @UCI_MTB Worlds track pic.twitter.com/oSXfgicREF

— Caroline Buchanan (@CBuchanan68) September 8, 2016

Lucky number 7
This is one of my most meaningful & special World Titles yet
3x BMX & 4x MTB @Airborne_Bikes pic.twitter.com/HWqkTqe6bS

— Caroline Buchanan (@CBuchanan68) September 10, 2016

A fourth world title to this Aussie superstar @cbuchanan68
After winning the 4x #aussiecycling #MTBWorlds🏅 pic.twitter.com/GVDXyZehJr

— Cycling Australia (@CyclingAus) September 10, 2016

Just a little superstar! Congrats @CBuchanan68 on world title number 7 & your engagement with @BarryNobles95 https://t.co/wXjryvaJNH

— Anna Meares (@AnnaMeares) September 10, 2016

Buchanan, 25, said she was thrilled to have rebounded from Rio so emphatically.

“Off the back of the Rio Olympics, I was absolutely devastated, I was so nervous to turn up today,” she told the UCI website.

“I think you’ve just got to put those adversities aside and get back on the bike, get back on the horse as they say, just keep going for the next goal.

“This is a really special year ... my seventh world title, I got engaged this weekend.

Caroline Buchanan after crashing out of the Rio Olympics. Picture: Adam Head

“This has been a really important year for me, with the Olympics, some great World Cup success. The BMX world time trial champion. To wrap up my second world title for the year on two different bikes, it's a massive challenge.

“I felt so uncomfortable on a mountain bike but I just proved to myself that even off the back of my Rio devastation, I can have a bit of redemption and come back out here today.

“It was a challenge for me to be able to step backup and bring that confidence after what happened in Rio but everyone needs to get back up after defeat and give it their best shot.”

Originally published as Caroline Buchanan wins mountain bike world title less than a month after Rio Olympics BMX devastation