COMMONWEALTH GAMES: Armitstead clinches silver; disappointment for Cooke

From Sportsbeat staff, in Delhi

 LIZZIE Armitstead won the battle of Britain and took silver in the 2010 Commonwealth Games road race - but Australia once more ruled the roost in Delhi.

Armitstead, England teammates Sharon Laws and Emma Pooley, as well as Wales' Nicole Cooke all arrived in the Indian capital harbouring medal hopes - and there is little love lost between the quartet.

But while Cooke was hoping to add to her 2002 victory in Manchester, she could only manage fifth place as Armitstead produces a stirring finish to capture silver.

"I just felt like I let the girls down a little bit. They did a really good job today," said Armitstead.

"I waited a little bit and I hesitated, because I wanted the job to get done right until the line. I should have made the split decision to get on a wheel instead.

"They did a perfect job. But for our first attempt as a team - we've not even tried it in training - I'm really impressed and I think we can only get better. Come London 2012 we should be a forced to be reckoned with."

Cooke was in the hunt in the closing stages but was somewhat isolated without the support of her Wales teammates, while Armitstead left her burst late and could not quite secure gold.

That honour went to Australia's Rochelle Gilmore having been superbly delivered to the line by compatriot Megan Dunn, 19, who has already won scratch and points race gold in Delhi.

"Today we got the big win. It was a perfect race by the team. We've been thinking about this for two years," said Gilmore. 

"We wanted to control the race to set up the sprint and we rode perfectly despite everyone throwing everything at us.

"I stayed out of trouble and kept drinking a lot of water, and I think that helped in the end. I'm extremely happy."

With an extra 50 metres, gold would surely have been Armitstead's but despite her blistering finish, she ran out of road and had to settle for silver, just pipping Australia's Chloe Hosking, who took bronze.

For Cooke it caps a disappointing year as the Olympic champion again missed out on a major podium.

"I could have got my tactics better at the finish but I don't know if I'd been able to have beaten the riders that got the medals considering their quality," said Cooke.

"I think I did pretty well with a fifth place against some strong opposition."

Just last month, she was forced to settle for fourth place at the World Championships in Geelong, Australia - and once more she has ended up empty-handed.

She was also forced to relinquish her national title - a crown she has monopolised for the last decade - as Pooley took gold and ensured there was no tenth straight title for Cooke.

At the national championships, Cooke hit out at the tactics of her rivals, claiming it was unfair that Pooley, Laws and Armitstead could team up against her.

That wasn't the case in Delhi however as it was the Australian team and Antipodean rivals New Zealand making the running, with Cooke seamingly perfectly poised to make her break.

Four years ago she was heavily marked out of the race in Melbourne and had to settle for bronze, but she cannot claim she did not have the chance this time around.

But as Gilmore made her break, Cooke was caught napping and only Armitstead could respond.

Meanwhile, England's Lucy Martin came home in 14th place, two ahead of compatriot Katie Colcough while Pooley and Laws finished further down the field.

Pooley can console herself in the fact that the time trial, the event in which she is the Olympic and silver medallist and world champion, is still to come on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, both Cooke and Armitstead admitted their frustrations at being denied the opportunity to warm up on the pan-flat course, despite assurances they would be allowed to.

"We were told we were going to have a practice session on the course but you couldn't get worked up about it, it was the same for everyone," added Cooke.

Armistead added: "It was a little bit crap that we couldn't train that hard and we've been on rollers for the last few days, which has been a bit rubbish."

Follow all the action as it happens from the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi