Brett Travers writes: Reflecting on her bronze medal World Championship performance
in Salzburg, the beautiful Austrian city where Mozart was born and raised, Great
Britain’s Nicole Cooke was bitter sweet when questioned on the composition
of her race.
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Nicole prior to the start
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"I am a little disappointed but then on the other hand what I am pleased
about is the fact that I was able to be one of the main protagonists in the
race. Obviously I would have preferred a gold medal but when it came to the
hill on the last few laps, I was the one breaking it up and that makes me very
proud. I know that with more team strength I could have been much stronger.
But we used our team to its full potential – we did what we could"
The 133-kilometre race had been an exciting spectacle held in warm autumnal
sunshine. The course, held over six laps, involved a technical city centre section
followed by a steady climb on a wide main road. A brief, narrow decent then
proceeded a short sharp climb which looked quite brutal and was the main vantage
point of the race, attracting thousands of cycling fans from all over the world.
The riders then descended back down to the city centre.
With good teamwork from Racheal Heal, Cooke made it into the lead group of 15
riders, but from then on she was left isolated and vulnerable to rivals’
attacks. However Cooke’s class shone through and up the final climb of
the race she escaped with Nicole Brändli (Switzerland) and Marianne Vos
(Netherlands), the eventual winner. On the descent to the finish the trio held
a slender lead over their chasers but with the Swiss girl, Brändli, refusing
to work and the group behind being led by a well-drilled German team, Cooke’s
escape was doomed.
The 15 riders sprinted furiously for the chequered flag; 19-year old Marianne
Vos (Netherlands) was a clear winner from Germany’s Trixi Worrack and Nicole
Cooke in third place.
Cooke was philosophical on her chance of victory that slipped away just before
the finish, but was more critical of her rivals’ tactics. "To be honest,
I don’t think we could have gone much faster on the downhill to the finish.
With a Swiss and Dutch rider in the break with me, their team mates should have
been blocking in the bunch. But then again, the Germans (who chased) rode a
very well executed race, they had a team goal and their teamwork paid off."
Having finished second at last year’s World Championship in Madrid, third
in Hamilton in 2003 and fifth at the Olympic Games in Athens, Cooke’s consistency
is impressive. However, the fact that Cooke, whilst riding for her Univega trade
team has won this year’s World Cup series and is number one in the UCI
rankings, but can not seem to triumph in the colours of Great Britain, would
imply she needs more assistance when racing for her country. "I’m
the only (UK) rider racing full-time in Europe, so we need more riders racing
full-time in Europe. My team (Univega) hopefully has space available for two
British riders to race alongside me and to gain experience. I was very keen
when I first went to Europe, racing against the best riders in the world, which
is the only way to learn - always go and race at a higher level."
British Cycling's Performance Director, David Brailsford, it would seem is aware
of the situation. "He is very supportive, as is (the GB team manager) Shane
Sutton. We are very serious about getting a proper plan together for the Beijing
Olympics," Cooke confirmed.
Brett Travers
www.Brett-Travers.com
Lozza
