Nicole Cook in the lead
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Arreau - France - La Grande Boucle Feminine - 24th June
In a classic final stage over the Col de Tourmalet (2115m) and the Col d'Aspin (1489m) in the Pyrenees, Nicole Cooke rode away with Swiss team-mate Priska Dopmann to win the Grand Boucle Feminine.
An elite group had formed on the lower slopes of the Tourmalet and stayed together on the descent. Then on the final Col, Priska Dopmann and Nicole Cooke upped the pace and left the others to crest the summit together and ride onto the finish, where Dopmann took the win to add to her two other stage wins.
In a significant change from other years, this time Cooke was not the only British athlete riding. Swiss based Emma Pooley showed that she is in the form of her life. In a courageous move she also broke away just over the summit of the Aspin. In a feat of daredevil descending she extended her leadover the pack to finish 1min.24s behind the leading pair. This moved her up into third position overall, the best result of her life.
This followed on from yesterday's result when other GB rising star - Tanja Slater attacked in the last 10km to win the stage alone.
Cooke, Slater and Pooley will return to the UK this week to ride in the GB championships at Beverley next Saturday.
Results - Grande Boucle Feminine
Stage - Cauterets - Arreau 105km
1st Priska Dopmann Raleigh Lifeforce Creation 2 hours 40 min 05 sec
2nd Nicole Cooke Raleigh Lifeforce Creation Same time
3rd Emma Pooley Team Specialised @ 1 min 24 seconds
Overall
1st Nicole Cooke Raleigh Lifeforce Creation 11 hours 52 min 35 sec
2nd Priska Dopmann Raleigh Lifeforce Creation @ 30 seconds
3rd Emma Pooley Team Specialised @ 4 min 42 seconds
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