Mountainbiking: Crash ruins hopes

A late crash denied Queenstown's Scarlett Hagen the glory in the junior women's downhill race at the mountainbike world championships in Italy yesterday.

Hagen, the defending champion, had to settle for a silver medal behind Britain's Rachael Atterton after crashing 100m from the finish line in Livingo.

"It just makes me even more hungry for Rotorua next year," Hagen said, referring to the 2006 world championships.

Another New Zealand defending champion saw her title taken away when Vanessa Quin, of Tauranga, finished fourth in the elite women's downhill race.