Pezzo wins amid crash row

Paola Pezzo celebrates victory in the mountain bike race

Paola Pezzo repeated her feat of four years ago in Atlanta by winning the Olympic mountain bike race.

But she rode straight into a row when her Spanish rival accused her of causing a crash that ruined her chances of gold.

Margarita Fullana was in tears as she claimed the Italian rode unfairly and consigned her to the bronze behind Switzerland's Barbara Blatter in the 35.7 km race.

Fullana was in front when she was joined by Pezzo with about 13 kilometres still to race.

Just before the final lap on the 6.9 kms circuit, they collided.

I am not saying I would have won....but it was not fair by Paola

  Margarita Fullana

The Spaniard slid off the track, but Pezzo quickly regained her balance and raced away to finish alone, draped in the Italian flag for the final metres to the line.

Fullana was inconsolable, even more so after viewing a video of the incident.

"I am not saying that I would have won but for the fall, but it was not a fair movement by Paola," she said.

Race officials, however, saw nothing untoward.

No regulations

Pezzo said: "These things happen all the time in mountain biking. There are no regulations about such incidents.

"Each rider follows their own trajectory. I was to the right, and she was coming from the left. I did not fall, but she did."

Pezzo, who represented Italy in Olympic cross-country ski-ing in 1994, was the second Italian woman cyclist to repeat an Atlanta triumph. Antonella Bellutti followed her 1996 pursuit gold with the points race gold on Thursday.