Top 10 satisfies up and down Joseph

Rosara Joseph grinned as she crossed the finish line of an oppressive women's Olympic cross country mountainbike race today.

But her smile didn't say it all, the grazes and grubby sweat-drenched lycra really summed up her gritty performance at Laoshan.

Joseph finished ninth in a 26.7km looping endurance test, just inside her pre-race goal of a top 10 finish.

Although that may sound defeatist for the high achieving Rhodes scholar, the Commonwealth Games silver medallist probably reached expectations by making the 30-rider field at all considering she broke an ankle at the end of April.

The injury prevented her from intensive training during May and June, leaving the 26-year-old no option but to pare back her ambitions.

Joseph, who juggles professional mountainbiking commitments while studying international affairs at Oxford University, might have wondered if Beijing was a worthwhile learning experience a minute into the 6-lap circuit.

Barely 60 seconds had elapsed before the first time Olympian was involved in a pile-up that immediately consigned her to backmarker status.

Joseph, who had to right herself after ploughing into China's Chengyuan Ren, plugged away in 33degC heat to improve from 23rd at the end of the first tight and technical circuit to 14th by the halfway mark.

By this point runaway German gold medallist Sabine Spitz had powered herself into an unbeatable position but Joseph was making steady progress until a steep, rocky segment proved her downfall - twice.

Joseph first experienced problems on the fourth lap when she provided one of the televised highlights - a dramatic 3-metre plunge from her bike that left her fortunate to avoid serious arm injuries.

"I actually screamed, I never scream `aah'," Joseph said.

"I dropped I guess from about two or three metres. It was pretty big, I must have fallen well.

"I was really winded, but I guess I was up relatively quickly."

Course officials witnessing the tumble doubted she could continue, prompting a slight delay as Joseph convinced them to hand back her bike.

Despite presenting the worse for wear at the finish, Joseph was delighted with her durable ride.

"I was way back off the pack from the very start, other than that it was great. I was picking off riders as I went through," she said.

"I felt really good. Physically, I felt really strong and technically, most of the time I was really good - there was just the one section I had trouble with."

She had another spill on her least favourite section of the course on the final lap after improving from 12th to eighth -- the delay allowing Georgia Gould of the United States to overhaul her.

Joseph trailed Spitz by five minutes 56 seconds, completing the course in 1hr 51min 07secs.

Spitz was strength and skill personified, timing 1hr 45.11secs - 41secs clear of second-placed Pole Maja Wloszczowska.

Irina Kalentyeva won the bronze after finishing 1min 17secs behind Spitz.

Three of the pre-race favourites were among four riders who failed to complete the course.

Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjaa, Norway's Olympic champion in Athens, withdrew on the fourth lap. Canadian Marie-Helene Premont, who denied Joseph Commonwealth gold in Melbourne two years ago, only managed 1-1/2 laps before pulling out with breathing difficulties and Spain's reigning world champion Margarita Fullana also called it quits before halfway.

In the men's eight-lap, 35.6km race the favourite did live up to his billing. Defending Olympic champion Julien Absalon blitzed his 49 rivals to win by an emphatic 1min 07sec margin from compatriot Jean-Christoph Peraud.

Nino Schurter of Switzerland, who collapsed after crossing the finish line, took the bronze.

New Zealand's Kashi Leuchs finished 24th, 10min 31secs behind Absalon, a four-time world champion.

An exhausted Leuchs will continue racing until mid-October and then have a prolonged break in Dunedin before contemplating what would be a fourth Olympics in London.

"I'm wondering what the future will bring," he said.

"Right now I'm thinking of taking an easy year next year to let my body recover," he said.

"Then there's a three year build-up for London."

Leuchs, who has been based in Sweden and France during his pro career, was looking forward to returning to Otago.

"It'll be the first time I've spent a long period there for a while.

"I want to be a New Zealander again - I've kind of been a Frenchie for the last six or seven years."