Univega
Pro Cycling - the winning streak continues
1-2 for
Cooke and Doppmann in Switzerland
Team
Univega press release
Team
Univega Website
Current
World Cup leader,
Nicole Cooke, scored the biggest Time Trial win of her career today in
Lausanne Switzerland. She won the prestigious Magali Pache Time Trail
beating a high quality field of riders well known for their performance in
these type of events.
"I am so excited with this result. For the last few years it has been a
roller-coaster ride with injuries, crashes and problems with teams failing
to pay wages. At long last things seem to be settling out. I am with a
superbly organised team, I am able to train properly and things are starting
to go right."
The field included past Olympic Time Trial Champion Zoulfia Zabirova (Rus)
who last week won the 5th Round of the World Cup - Tour de Berne and past
Olympic Road Race Champion Kathy Watt (Aus).
The race, where individual riders are set off at 1 minute intervals,
featured several severe climbs and very tricky descents in and around
Lausanne. It was run off to coincide with the final stage of the men's Tour
of Romandie. "It was the first time I have ever ridden the event and
the course was certainly very challenging. However, I went round yesterday
with our Swiss manager and my team-mate Priska-Doppmann (Swi)and we
conducted a thorough review of the course. Today was my first race on my new
Raleigh-Univega Time Trial bike and it was superb. On the final climb to the
finish I tried to pace myself properly. Normally I have someone alongside,
who I know I am going to beat. Today I was on my own." Cooke won by
just 0.3 seconds.
Cooke,
Junior World Time Trial Champion in 2001, has not won a single individual
time trial since. "In the past 5 years, I have been so busy trying to
recover from this and that, I have never been able to sort myself out for a
decent time trial. I have done some very useful training with Chris
Boardman, which has been great but just when a big time trial has come up, I
have had a crash or an injury, requiring surgery. It has been a very
frustrating few years. I feel I have let down all those who have been trying
to help me. Now, at long last, perhaps, there is going to be some reward for
all the efforts for all those who have helped me."
Whilst achieving a 1-2 with fellow Raleigh Univega Lifeforce team-mate
Doppmann, must have been pleasing, particularly sweet must have been that
the field contained four of the six strong Australian team from the
Commonwealth Games, who took 5 out of the 6 medals on offer in the Road Race
and Time Trial so recently. Road Race winner Natalie Bates was 1 min 45 back
and Time Trial Champion Oenone Wood was at 58 seconds, the leading
Australian at 5th. A crash into a van parked on a corner in a race in New
Zealand meant Cooke opted out of the Commonwealth Time Trial which was early
in the Games, concentrating on the Road Race, where she won a bronze medal
riding alone against six strong teams from Australia, Canada, New Zealand
and England.
"I
am now looking forward to the next round of the World Cup in Spain next
weekend. I am leading but Oenone (Wood) is a very big threat in second
place. With 75 points for the win and a lead of just 14, it is all very
close. This confirms I am now getting back to the form I know I can have and
Oenone and her team will have to work very hard to take the lead off
me."
Results,
20.40 km
1. Nicole
Cooke (GBr) Univega Raleigh Lifeforce Pro Cycling Team 30.43 (39.843 km/h)
2. Priska Doppmann (Swi) Univega Raleigh Lifeforce Pro Cycling Team
3.
Zoulfia Zabirova (Rus) Bigla Cycling Team 0.04
4. Edwige
Pitel (Fra) Bianchi Aliverti Kookai 0.19
5. Oenone
Wood (Aus) Equipe Nurnberger Versicherung 0.58
6. Kathryn Watt (Aus) Lotto-Belisol Ladiesteam 1.15
7. Edita Pucinskaite (Ltu) Nobili Rubinetterie Menikini Cogeas 1.23
8. Katherine Bates (Aus) Equipe Nurnberger Versicherun 1.44
9. Natalie Bates (Aus) Van Bemmelen-AA Drink 1.45
10. Svetlana Bubnenkova (Rus) Fenixs - Colnago 1.52
