Cycling UK Forum

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Nicole Cooke winning another rainbow jersey. I hope we are not getting blasé (I do like the chance to use accents) just because we are seeing a lot of success. Each victory is a triumph in its own right.

I enjoyed listening to her post-race (BBC) interview. She is the one who is entitled to be matter-of-fact, having been so good over the years (it must be at least 10 years, probably more since I watched her on Eurosport, shrieking with determination as she won the junior world championship in France.) But no, her sheer joy at winning, coupled with informative comments about the help she had received from the team were a real pleasure to watch.

I've never seen a road sign saying 'Well done' in Welsh so Eglish will have to do. (Llongyfarchiadau? )

Yep she's good damned good.
Which is more than I can say for one David Miller.

Is he the one who was banged up by the French Police?

thirdcrank wrote:Is he the one who was banged up by the French Police?

I hope so

I like the way that she stood onthe finish line after the end and shouted "We did it" to her team mates rather than "I did it".


She also seems to have mtured tectically this year. On previous WCs she's looked strong but has blown it by doing too much work near te end. This year she just let the others do it and pounced.

-

Millar: British rider who won the world time trial champs by a good margin and then admitted to using drugs before the event. Claims that the pressure made him do it and that he would probably have still been in contention without the drugs. Was banned for a period and then returned. Now a loud voice in the fight against drugs (some would say the reformed smoker factor), an advocate of strong internal testing within teams and also looking to help new talent come into racing through his team. Has had some success since his return but not quite as much as before. Was known for being quite outspoken in his younger days, now appears to be a little more relaxed and mature.

Best women's road race for some time and nail biting stuff, absolutely brilliant with some excellent Brit riders snapping at Nicole's heels for future years.
Well done Nicole.

Si wrote:I like the way that she stood onthe finish line after the end and shouted "We did it" to her team mates rather than "I did it".

Yes, that was brilliant, no wonder the others are happy to ride for her, she seems such a likeable person, I'll bet that the party afterwards was pretty good!

Might I add the following comment. On the other forums I go on if a result of a race is being discussed, the event name and the word spoiler is used as the title ie; Women's Worlds RR (spoiler) that way anyone who may not have had chance to watch a pre-recorded programme does not have the result spoilt for them as they do not have to read the thread, having been pre-warned.

Good point. Title amended, although probably too late now. Hopefully if anyone doesn;t know the result and has it on disc then just the name "Nicole Cooke" won't give away if she won or lost!

eileithyia

I'll put my hands up and say I am truly sorry. It was mentioned on here before so I have no excuse - especially as a former shift worker I've watched plenty of cycling on video so I should have known better.

I suppose if I'd been posting straight after the race, it might have occurred to me but that's not an excuse.

Anyway, it was good to see a true champion winning and then to see her real joy and her sincere gratitude to the rest of the team and support (not just the usual script to get the sponsor's name in as many times as possible.) I think we can be pretty confident that we are not going to have this spoiled by another drugs case (with all the excuses and inexcusable attempts at justification. )

It won't happen again, I promise - largely because if Lance Armstrong wins the next TdeF by a margin so large it could be measured with a sun dial, I'll not be watching.

PS I've edited my tread title - I thought 'Spoiler-Nicole Cooke' was unlikely to be sufficient warning to anybody who had not spent the last 10 years on the dark side of the moon. I can't imagine many people will have thought she had won a golf match. I'll guess that Nicole Cooke's victory will not have been a secret to many people because even the BBC seemed to know about it. Still no excuse and I'm still sorry.

Apology accepted , fortunately I had watched it albeit a couple of hours after it had finished. Just managed to watch the finish of the men's this pm (well quiet afternoon in prep for night shift tonight).
Nice to see Bettini cheer his team mate and come in at the front of the bunch with Zabel.

eileithyia wrote:Nice to see Bettini cheer his team mate and come in at the front of the bunch with Zabel.

There's no room for me to amend the thread title to include the men's elite as well as the women's

Yeah - it's wonderful to see her girlish delight and enthusiasm as she wins - did you get a look at her face as she won the Olympic race?

Just a thought everyone - don't ever forget Beryl Burton. And can you imagine what success Beryl would have had if she'd had the support and backing that Nicole has had?

Beryl must never be forgotten.

eileithyia wrote:Nice to see Bettini cheer his team mate and come in at the front of the bunch with Zabel.

yeah! just read on another forum that Bettini has now retired - perhaps he was celebrating his career as much as the win. also, the italians are paid huge bonuses to win the world title which is why they have done so well over recent history. Perhaps he was celebrating his pay cheque.

... old cynic, me ..

I realise it's a tradition thing and no fault of the rider, but doesn't anyone else think that it should be the whole team on the podium rather than just the one rider who crossed the line first?