Cycling: Pryde pulls out of road race

New Zealand cyclist Susy Pryde ended her dismal Olympics Games campaign on a rain- and wind-swept women's road race circuit on Tuesday, pulling out with two laps remaining after failing to recover from a crash.

Pryde was brought down after tangling with American Karen Kurreck as the 60-rider field weaved its way through Centennial Parklands for the first time.

Both riders were able to continue the 120km race but lost time on the early leaders and were near the tail of the field.

However, Pryde battled back to join the frontrunners.

On the fourth lap of seven, Pryde suffered a punctured tyre as she tried vainly to keep up with a mini breakaway sparked by Spain's Joane Somarriba Arrola.

Pryce's teammates Jacinta Coleman finished 18th, well above her world ranking of 37th, and Roz Reekie-May finished 37th.

Dutch women Leontien Zijlaard picked up the gold in a time of 3 hours 6 minutes 31 seconds, Hanka Kupfernagel of Germany won the silver and Lithuania's Diana Ziliute the bronze.

Road coach Garry Bell said Pryde was still suffering from a viral complaint and knocks sustained from crashes during the mountainbiking race last Saturday.

Pryde crashed three times during the women's mountainbiking race, eventually pulling out just after halfway.

- NZPA and IRN