Emma Pooley 8th in Worlds Time Trial

 

26th September, 2007; Stuttgart, Germany

Report and pictures by Larry Hickmott

 

Super ride by Emma Pooley who finished 8th in the time trial with the road race to come.

 

Great Britain went into the opening day of the Time Trials wanting one of its girls to finish in the top 10 and Emma Pooley, who has shown great form on the climbs in Italy, showed the course was to her liking with an 8th placing, less than a minute off a medal.

 

The day began early with the mechanic Ernie Feargrieve (and several members of staff including me) leaving the hotel at 6.30 for the drive in. Also up at breakfast was Ian Stannard who was off early that morning in the Under 23 Time Trial. The drive into Stuttgart was again horrendous and the short journey took forever but once there, the Barloworld bus which is GB’s for the week was put in position and the bikes and kit prepared for the riders when they arrived later.

 

Ian Stannard likes the Barloworld team bus ...

 

The weather, despite rain having been forecast was dry but cold and as soon as Ian Stannard arrived at the circuit, he was into the team bus and making himself comfy. Whilst he did, Mario the bus drive had great delight telling us that the great Mario Cipollini had once been sitting in this bus during his racing days!

 

Outside on his bike, Ian had opted for a 55/44 chain ring set up and with 40 minutes to his ride, the T-Mobile stagaire started his warm up on the rollers before making his way to the start line to begin his effort. His race consisted of two laps of the hilly and technical course and the former Team Keyne rider completed the 38 kilometres (24 miles or so) in 52.05.

 

It was a time that eventually placed him in 36th place with the winner going three minutes faster. Afterwards we spoke to Ian who said of the ride “I thought it would be fast but when you were racing it, it was super super fast. It went well technically and there were some good patches in it but it was so cold, I couldn’t get into it properly.”

 

“Off the ramp, you went straight into a descent and the cold went straight through me and the legs swelled up a bit. Once I got into it though, it was alright. I didn’t think the climb through the finish would be much of a problem but the last lap it was so hard. It was like riding in quicksand.”

 

 

Women’s Elite TT

 

Wendy leaves the start gate for her 2 laps of the course.

After a few hours break, the Elite Women riders arrived at the circuit and got straight into preparing for their race. Both riders were warned about the cold and told to keep well wrapped up and the mechanic Ernie Feargrieve and coach Dan Hunt talked about last minute changes to the bikes.

 

Wendy Houvenaghel had two bikes, her Cervelo and a Trek whilst Emma Pooley had two of her team’s Specialized bikes for women. Wendy’s race bike was Campagnolo equipped in the main whilst Emma had some Lighweight wheels including a prototype front wheel!

 

Prior to arriving at the circuit, both girls had started the day with breakfast at 8.30 and then Emma had a roller session while Wendy did a spot of reading. At the circuit, Emma went into the bus for a lie down whilst Wendy headed for the pit tent and started going over her course notes and visualising the circuit which did concern her after the recce the day before.

 

Both went about their preparation differently and because there was a large time gap between their rides, it was Wendy who first went through the routine of warming up and making her way to the start gate. There, Wendy had too look for a chair to sit down on and then when called, made her way to the start gate house.

 

After the final five second countdown, Wendy started her time trial in powerful fashion and after the first lap had made large inroads into the gap between her and the rider who started 90 seconds in front of her. After the first lap, she was in the top 10 at that time and as she crossed the line to finish the 25 kilometres, she was lying in seventh but there were three more groups of riders to start.

 

Wendy warmed down, changed and went back to the team bus to watch the rest of the event on TV in the bus. There, we talked to her about her race. “I did my best and I gave it 100 percent. I crossed the finish line knowing that if I had to do it all again there is nothing I would change. The course was a little bit on or off for me so I was unable to keep the pressure on 100 per cent of the time which doesn’t suit my style of riding.”

 

On the amount of work she put into preparing for this time trial, right up until the moment she stepped up to the start gate, Wendy spoke of the visualisation process she went through before the race. “With this sort of course you really do need to know where the corners and the areas are you need to pay attention too are. This includes things like gear changes, sprinting, which line to take and how to get the most out of each part of that course because seconds count.”

 

“That why I was trying to memorise it before I went out to race.”

 

 

“I was loving the hills and flat bits because I could apply the power but that wasn’t the case on the descents and twisty bits. I am consoled by the fact that riders like Sara Carrigan (Olympic RR Champion) come in only 10 seconds or so faster than me. Horses for courses, and I was aware after yesterday’s recce of it that it didn't suit me and that distracted me a little bit from my focus. However, I went out and did the best I could.”

 

“I am looking back to getting back on the track again where power equals medals and I am not distracted by whether it is going to rain or whether the course suits me” to which Wendy added that she was leaving Germany for Manchester the next day and intended to get some time on the new Manchester boards to prepare for the track nationals.

 

Wendy has her eye on the winter ahead and getting back into the World Track Cup competition where for two years she has won the UCI competition for the Women’s Pursuit and the real big one – the Manchester Worlds which she is really excited about.

 

Emma Pooley
By the time Wendy came back, Emma was already well into her warm-up up routine. Once finished, the Specialized rider made the short ride to the start gate from the pits, climbed onto the start gate and with the place surrounded by photographers and flashes going off the whole time she was there, a wry smile came across her face as she got the final five second countdown.

 

Emma left the ramp well and proceeded to race the course well, in the top 10 after lap 1 and finishing in 5th place only to drop to 8th when the rest of the riders had finished. Emma had done what the team were looking for and it showed that for a young lady with little expereince at this level, she is certainly a very talented rider on the road.

 

Afterwards, Emma told us “I’m really pleased with the ride today. I was secretly hoping for a top 10 and that is what I got even though  wasn’t sure I could manage it before the ride.”

 

“The course was always up and down, always changing and it was very hard to find a rhythm. You were always changing gear and you couldn’t settle down. It started pretty fast with an undulating section and a longish descent. I could remember where the climbs were but the false flats were the real killers. You knew on the steep hill, you could stand up for a while and attack it but it dragged on at the finish where there was about 3k of a drag and it was hard to keep the cadence and speed up, and at times I felt like I was standing still.”

“I  went out and rode it as hard as a I could and suffered the whole way. I was dead when I crossed the line and I don’t think I could have ridden any harder.”

 

“Obviously that is my best time trial yet and it was the best I could do today. I haven’t trained for it and there  is a lot to improve in my TT. I think I coped okay with the descents and corners but I am not the most adventurous but I have improved thanks to my coach. I don’t think I could have made up much time there. I think I could have improved my pedalling technique and cadence as I was really pedalling too slowly in some sections.”

 

Talking about her bike she has from her team Specialized for Women, Emma’s director at the team got her some special wheels from Lightweight and after seeing her reaction and smile when she picked it up before the race, I asked how the bike felt. She replied “I was like wow, half the weight’s gone from the bike. Its so good to take the training wheels out and put the race ones in and feel like you’re flying.”

 

Asked then about the grin that came onto her face at the start, she explained that by saying “I was just looking forward to it – did you notice I was shaking as well! I was sitting there feeling quite stressed and thinking I might as well enjoy it so I thought I’m not going to let everyone know I’m scared so I smiled -- whilst shaking!”

 

Emma keeping her head occupied an hour before the Time Trial and some light reading!

 

Asked can she see herself making a full time career out of riding her bike, Emma replied, “at the moment I am trying to combine part time working with cycling because it seems to work for me. I like to keep my head occupied and the money flowing in! I have commitments to my PHD and those that support me in that and have a duty to them to and me to finish that. Then I’ll see. Last year I wasn’t working part time and now I am and that makes a huge difference. And having a team near where I live cuts down on the travelling and the wasted time.”

 

Her team were very supportive, dropping off equipment to the team and had two people there quite excited at her ride in the race. Final question to Emma was on the road race. There are those in the team that have seen this young lady climb with very good male professionals up hill and are looking forward to seeing how she goes in the road race and the climbs in that.

 

“The course has some nice hills and I love hills and I can’t wait. I am nervous as well because a lot is expected of the team and me but I am looking forward to it – its going to be fun!”

 

My thanks to Emma for talking to us at dinner tonight at short notice!

 

Emma Pooley warming up before what was a super ride by the young lady.

 

Wendy watches the Under 23 TT whilst Dan Hunt, her coach, does some paperwork.

 

Shane Sutton, Dave Brailsford and Max Sciandri in the managers clothing ...

 

Police escort for the riders.

 

Ian Stannard warming up

 

Ian Stannard giving everything with 200 metres to go.

 

 

Elite Women
1. KUPFERNAGEL Hanka GER 34:43.79
2. ARMSTRONG Kristin USA 35:07.26
3. SOEDER Christiane AUT 35:25.32
4. NEBEN Amber USA 35:46.58
5. THORBURN Christine USA 35:54.87
6. DOPPMANN Priska SUI 6:42.22 36:05.01
7. LONGO-CIPRELLI Jeannie FRA 36:05.60
8. POOLEY Emma GBR 36:16.39
9. THÜRIG Karin SUI 36:19.00
10. LI Meifang CHN 36:21.57

 

25. HOUVENAGHEL Wendy GBR 37:23.78

Under 23 Men
1. BOOM Lars NED 48:57.93
2. IGNATIEV Mikhail RUS 49:06.99
3. COPPEL Jerome FRA 49:43.52
4. CHRISTENSEN Michael Faerk DEN 50:08.00
5. MALORI Adriano ITA 50:09.97

 

36. STANNARD Ian GBR 52:05.90