Mountainbiking: Pryde goes after fall

Susy Pryde's ambitious plans to complete the women's mountainbiking-road race Olympic Games double faltered just two minutes into the first leg when she suffered a bad fall on the Fairfield City Farm circuit here today.

The New Zealander knocked her head and suffered minor abrasions and bruising when she collided with Australian Mary Grigson soon after the start of the race, eventually won by defending Olympic champion Paola Pezzo of Italy.

The New Zealander, who only decided to enter the race earlier today as she continues battling a virus, immediately lost touch with the main group.

``I took a big tumble. I was following Mary up, she hit a pole, we came down and other riders tumbled over me.''

``All the adrenalin was flowing I got back up but the chain was off and by the time I got going I looked over and the main field were a couple of minutes away.

``I started going for it but at the start-finish line I knew it was going to be tough.''

Pryde continued on but was 23rd out of 30 at the end of the first lap, two minutes 49 seconds behind the frontrunners. She completed another circuit of the 7km-long course but after two further falls pulled out just after the halfway stage, opting to save herself for Tuesday's road race.

``I really had to make an executive decision out there, decide whether I was going to keep going and finish with 16th place if I kept clawing away or put all my eggs in one basket and go for the road race.''

Her decision was influenced by not wanting to let down her road race teammates Jacinta Coleman and Rosalind Reekie-May.

``I could have kept going and had a huge workout but it would have depleted me,'' she said.

The illness, which has swollen her throat affecting her breathing, wasn't a significant factor.

``I felt good, better than I have been. It was race day, I was looking forward to racing but it was all over within the first couple of minutes.

``I didn't want to throw it away, I had to fight because this is the Olympics but once I fell out of contention I feel I made the right decision.''

Pryde was only a 50:50 proposition to start the mountainbiking race.

Medical staff eventually agreed she should race two laps and see how she felt.

New Zealand team doctor Ruth Highet said Pryde had made the right decision to withdraw.

``It was a wise move. It's a big ask to do a mountainbike race and a road race straight after, and even bigger when you're fighting infection and then have a couple of falls.

``She was being responsible for her road race teammates, the next fall could have been major and stopped her taking part.''

Pezzo finished the four-lap circuit in 1hr 49mins 24.mins 27sec. She was home 27 sec before early leader Barbara Blatter (Switzerland). World champion Margarita Fullana of Spain claimed the bronze.

Pezzo waved an Italian flag and blew kisses to the crowd as she came into the finish chute. After crossing the line, she dropped from her pink bike and kissed the ground.

``It's been a long four years. A long trip to get here physically and mentally,'' she said afterwards, describing the win as ``a miracle''.

She passed Fullana with an aggressive move late in the fourth lap. After catching up, Pezzo dropped past a rock drop and zipped up alongside Fullana.

The Spaniard didn't appear to see Pezzo, and they bumped after coming shoulder to shoulder on a narrow, tree-lined path. Fullana went down and Pezzo went ahead, never to be challenged on the final lap.

- NZPA