Cycling: Gold for Bronzini after crash robs Armitstead

Italy's Giorgia Bronzini defended her women's road race world title in a sprint finish as a crash ruined British hopes here yesterday.

Bronzini managed to outsprint Holland's Marianne Vos for gold after Canadian Clara Hughes's break was caught.

But a crash further back held up Lizzie Armitstead, robbing a well-set British team of a medal chance. Nicole Cooke finished fourth while Armitstead came seventh.

"I'm gutted. I felt good but got caught behind the crash," said Armitstead. "I felt so good all day but that's cycling, I guess. A girl came down in front of me after the girls had set me up perfectly, it's such a stupid way to lose it."

Cooke, the defending Olympic champion, said: "We were all riding for Lizzie. She had been doing so well, and I was up there waiting for her to come up to me, but I never saw her. So in the end I had to just do my sprint.

"When we went around the last corner I thought, 'Well, I'm in a race-winning position, Lizzie's either on my wheel or she's not.'

"We're all pretty honest in the team and we want someone from the team to win, it doesn't matter who in the end. If she saw me in that position she'd want me to go for it, positions like that don't just come along."