Britannia Rules in Women’s Fleche Wallonne

Story posted April 21, 2010; by Larry Hickmott

1-2 for Brits in Women's World Cup Race
In a race well known for its brutal nature with a finish up the Mur de Huy climb sending riders into oxygen debt and collapse on the steep slopes, two British riders, Emma Pooley and Nicole Cooke, showed the world just how great they were in dealing with such a challenge of not only the terrain but the world class riders around them. 

Pooley (Cervelo Test Team) won the race by eight seconds from the Olympic and former World Champion Cooke and both came out of the race pleased by the result. It was for Emma, her first big victory in 2010 whilst for three time winner (2003, 2005, 2006) Cooke, the race showed she has the form again to stand on the podium of a World Cup Race.

Photo: © CJ Farquharson (Photosport International)

Talking on her team’s website, Emma said after the victory “I have to say I have never got to the end of a race having done so little work. I have the most awesome team behind me and I didn't have to do anything at all. Any of them could have won today.”

“Basically, it was them who won the race. All I had to do was the last kilometre -- it was really easy” she said laughing. “I attacked a little early on the really steep part, the ‘s' bend. I was supposed to wait for the team but attacked a little earlier because I was really impatient and a bit nervous that I might fall off my bike in all the excitement!”

“I had a gap but you never know on the Mur whether someone comes back at the end. It's only three hundred metres from there but it feels like miles. I had to take advantage of the steep section because my power is rubbish; it's only my strength to weight that is okay. Last year I said I'll never win a World Cup again and said the same thing this year. But this is not any World Cup, it has a lot of tradition. It's a big race and my coach told me he thought one day I'd win it”

Great Britain Cycling Team rider, Nicole Cooke meanwhile has shown three times before that she can win this classic race and told us after the event “my expectations coming into the race were more like top five based on where I am at in my training and the indicators I have had from that and my races so far. So, overall I performed better than I expected. This result has given me a lot of confidence and bodes well now for the coming weeks and months because I know for sure I can build on this and there is more to come."

Nicole Cooke. Photo: © CJ Farquharson (Photosport International)

It is less than a month since Nicole started racing in 2010 after a troubled start to the year (click here to find out why) and her performance is one that gives her a lot of confidence for the coming months. "I came out of the race feeling really pleased because I know I gave it everything I have and the result has given me a lot of confidence."

Asked to give us her version of how the race unfolded, Nicole explained "Emma Trott was up the road straight away in the first break of the day and spent around 25 to 35 k off the front. That was really good to see, Emma getting stuck in during a World Cup race. Her break meant that there was no pressure on GB at this time and comparing the race to previous years, I'd say it was ridden quite steady this year. It is the first time we have done the Mur de Huy climb twice and that affected the way the race was ridden."

"During this stage of the race, all the girls in GB were getting up the front, Katie (Colclough), Hannah (Mayho), Lucy (Martin) and it was good having these teammates close by to help me save energy for the vital part of the race. The bunch then split going up the Mur de Huy after 80 kilometres and I made the front group when Regina Bruins (Cervelo) attacked with the Columbia team heading up the chase."

 “Then we got to the penultimate climb and that was when the front group really did explode. The girl who won Flanders, Grace Verbeke, went really hard and caught Bruins and that surge created the selection of only 15 or 20 riders that were at the front of the race at the bottom of the Mur de Huy. I just rode the climb within my limits up until around the 400 metre mark. From that point on, I knew I could give it everything and I really went for it."

"At that time I was in 6th or 7th place and I gradually started to pick the riders off. It is such a tough climb, that you can really make a difference in a few hundred metres and as I was racing to the line I started to think the podium could be possible. I got pass Verbeke who was in third place at that time and I said right, I'm going to go for second and see if I can get past Emma Johansson and I managed to get past her a couple of metres before the line."

Lucy Martin, Hannah Mahyo and Nicole Cooke. Photo: © CJ Farquharson (Photosport International)

While the vastly experienced Nicole Cooke looked after herself on the climb and did incredibly well despite being outnumbered by riders from other teams, Emma Pooley took full advantage of her team’s strength in the race. Describing the finale on the Mur de Huy, she says on her team’s website “after the downhill to the valley floor, we still had four riders who were attacking. Regina Bruins, Claudia Häusler and Sharon Laws were taking turns to attack and Columbia had to chase them every time.”

“That was deliberate because anyone of them (Cervelo riders) could win and Columbia had to chase them and it made the Columbia riders really tired. I could see that Judith Arndt was tired and we could see that Marianne Vos was not so strong on the Mur the first time, so the idea was to make them as tired as possible before the last run on the Mur" explained Emma.

"I just followed and they were all looking after me as well because it's quite fast going down and it’s stressful. Then with 3 kilometres to go to the Mur, it was all lined out and Sharon attacked. Regina and Claudia then brought me to the front and we had a line behind the Columbia girls. I think it was Arndt who was chasing.”

“I could see they (Columbia) were setting it up for Stevens, so I just stayed on her wheel onto the Mur and I told myself be patient. I waited just before the steep part and then I attacked. I knew I had to get a big gap because I'm not too strong and it was fast again, so I had to get the gap when it was steep. I think the gap was ok in the end. It wasn't an elegant victory”.
 
Emma’s World Cup win now puts her in 4th place in the World Cup standings while Nicole Cooke is not far behind in 5th. The Olympic champion though is not putting any pressure on herself to win the World Cup but rather just to take each race as it comes and get the best result in each.

Nicole and the Great Britain team now have two more races to look forward to over the weekend in Holland and Belgium before they head to the Czech Republic for a four day stage race (Gracia – Orlova). It means the riders have two weeks together which Nicole says is really good and something she has been looking forward to for a while.

"This block of racing has come at the right time for me because it’s still less than a month since the first race of the season for me and these races and a stage race I know will help bring my form on nicely. I just want to continue building on my form right through to the British championships before I then take a short break.”

Nicole has on her programme the Tour de l'Aude Cycliste Fémini in May and then some more World Cups in June. And speaking of June, it’s a race in Pendle at the end of that month where British fans will get a chance to see these awesome athletes in action in the British Road Race championships for Women.

With Pooley's prowess on the climbs, Nicole’s record of 10 wins already and others like Lizzie Armitstead and Sharon Laws also sure to be a factor, the British Road Race Championships at the end of June are looking increasingly interesting.

Result

1.  Emma Pooley (GBr) Cervelo Test Team 3:01:27       
2.  Nicole Cooke (GBr) Great Britain @08      
3.  Emma Johansson (Swe) Redsun Cycling Team            
4.  Grace Verbeke (Bel) Lotto Ladies Team @12      
5.  Evelyn Stevens (USA) HTC Columbia Women @17      
6 . Marianne Vos (Ned) Nederland Bloeit @22      

Other Brits
11.  Sharon Laws (GBr) Cervelo Test Team     @44      
42.  Katie Colclough (GBr) Great Britain     @2:20      
63. Emma Silversides (GBr) Redsun Cycling Team            
75.  Lucy Martin (GBr) Great Britain     @5:22      
89.  Emma Trott (GBr)Great Britain

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