Nicole Cooke

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Nicole Cooke
Cooke in 2007
Cooke in 2007
Personal information
Full name Nicole Cooke
Date of birth April 13, 1983 (1983-04-13) (age 25)
Country Flag of the United Kingdom United Kingdom
Height 1.67 m (5 ft 5+12 in)
Weight 58 kg (130 lb/9.1 st)
Team information
Current team Team Halfords Bikehut
Discipline Road
Role Rider
Amateur team(s)
Cardiff Ajax CC
Professional team(s)
2005–2006
2007
2008–
Ausra Gruodis-Safi
Univega Raleigh Lifeforce
Team Halfords Bikehut
Infobox last updated on:
January 10, 2008

Nicole Cooke (born April 13, 1983) is a Welsh road bicycle racer.

Cooke was born in Wick, Vale of Glamorgan, and began cycling at an early age. At the age of sixteen she won her first senior national title, becoming the youngest rider ever to take the senior women's title at the British National Road Race Championships. In 2001 she was awarded the Bidlake Memorial Prize, given for outstanding performance or contribution to the betterment of cycling. She also won four junior world titles including 2001 held in Portugal.

She competed in the 2002 Commonwealth Games, and won the women's cycling road race in a surprising sprint finish. She was the runner-up for BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year.

In 2003 Cooke won the La Flèche Wallonne Féminine cycle road race in Belgium. She placed third in the Women's World Championship of Road Cycling. She was the 2003 UCI Women's Road World Cup champion, the youngest ever to win the award and the first Briton. She suffered a crash in October, and would later have to undergo surgery to fix her knee. This year, Cooke would be named the BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year.

The following year she won the Giro d'Italia Femminile, becoming the youngest person ever to win the race. At the 2004 Summer Olympics she placed a disappointing 5th in the Women's Road Race and 19th in the Women's Road Time trial.

In 2005, she again took first place in La Flèche Wallonne Féminine and that year she came in second in the World Championship of Road Cycling. In December 2005, during her preparations for the 2006 Commonwealth Games, she suffered a broken collar-bone whilst competing on the velodrome during the Manchester leg of the World Cup; despite this, she achieved a bronze medal in the road race at the Games. In September 2006, she repeated her 2003 3rd place finish in the UCI Road World Championships.

Cooke turned professional for the cycling team Ausra Gruodis-Safi and learned to speak fluent Italian whilst living and racing in Italy. At the end of 2005 she signed for the Swiss-based team Univega.

Nicole Cooke wins 19th International Women's Bicycle Race of Thuringia in Zeulenroda-Triebes.
Nicole Cooke wins 19th International Women's Bicycle Race of Thuringia in Zeulenroda-Triebes.

On August 1, 2006, she was unveiled as the UCI's world number one women's road cyclist and on September 3, 2006 secured the 2006 UCI Women's Road World Cup, with a race in hand. She was the winner of the 2006 Grande Boucle - the women's version of the Tour de France. During 2006 she also won the British Road Race Championship, La Flèche Wallonne, La Coupe du Monde Cycliste Féminine de Montréal, the Magali Pache Time Trial, the Castilla y Leon World Cup Race and the Thüringen-Rundfahrt stage race.

In 2007, Cooke continued her winning ways by capturing the Geelong World Cup and the women's Ronde van Vlaanderen, which are the first two stops on the 2007 UCI Women's Road World Cup, in addition to her wins at Trofeo Alfredo Binda and on Stage 2 of the GP Costa Etrusca. She was again the winner of Grande Boucle.

A late season knee injury prevented her from winning the 2007 World Cup competition, after Marianne Vos won the final race of the series (the Rund um die Nürnberger Altstadt) and so snatched the overall title from Cooke, who had held the series lead for much of the season. The injury also forced her to miss the 2007 World Championships in Stuttgart.[1]

Cooke signed for Team Halfords Bikehut for the 2008 season, riding bikes by Chris Boardman. She won her first victory of 2008 in the Tour de l'Aude, taking the first stage and finishing fourth overall.[2]

[edit] Palmarès

1999
1st Flag of the United Kingdom GBR British National Road Race Champs
(youngest ever winner)
2000
1at UCI Road Race World Champs, Junior, Plouay
2nd British National Cyclo-cross Champs
3rd UCI XC MTB World Champs, Junior, Lisbon
5th Grand Prix de Quebec
2001
1st UCI Road Race World Champs, Junior, Lisbon
1st UCI Time Trial World Champs, Junior, Lisbon
1st UCI XC MTB World Champs, Junior, Colorado
1st Flag of the United Kingdom GBR British National XC MTB Champs
1st Flag of the United Kingdom GBR British National Cyclo-cross Champs (youngest ever winner)
1st Best Young Rider, Grand Prix de Quebec
1st Mountains Jersey, Grand Prix de Quebec
2002
1st Road Race, Commonwealth Games, Manchester
1st Flag of the United Kingdom GBR British National Road Race Champs
1st 12th Trofeo Citta di Rosignano (ITA)
1st 4th Memorial Pasquale di Carlo (ITA)
1st Mountains Jersey, Trofeo Banca Populaire (ITA)
1st Stage 2, Trofeo Banca Populaire (ITA)
1st Ronde van Westerbeek, Holland
1st Best Young Rider, Giro della Toscana
1st Best Young Rider, Giro del Trentino
3rd Veulta Castilla-y-Leon (ESP)
3rd Tour Midi Pyrenees (FRA)
1st Stage 2, Tour Midi Pyrenees (FRA)
1st Mountains Jersey, Tour Midi Pyrenees (FRA)
2003
1st Overall, UCI Women's Road World Cup
1st Amstel Gold
1st La Flèche Wallonne Féminine
1st GP Plouay
1st GP San Francisco
1st Stage 5 Holland Ladies Tour
1st Mountains Jersey, Vuelta Castilla y Leon
1st Best Young Rider, Trofeo Banco Populare Alto Adige
1st Best Young Rider, Giro Della Toscana
1st Stage 3a, Giro Della Toscana
1st Flag of the United Kingdom GBR British National Road Race Champs
3rd UCI Road Race World Champs, Hamilton
2004
1st Giro d'Italia Femminine (Giro Donne)
1st Stage 8
1st GP San Francisco/T Mobile International
1st Flag of the United Kingdom GBR British National Road Race Champs
1st Best Young Rider, Giro Della Toscana
1st Points Jersey, Giro Della Toscana
5th Road Race, Summer Olympics
19th Time Trial, Summer Olympics
2005
1st La Flèche Wallonne Féminine (BEL), UCI Women's Road World Cup
1st GP Wallonie (BEL)
1st Trofeo Alfredo Binda, Cittiglio (ITA)
1st 15th Trofeo Citta di Rosignano (ITA)
1st Flag of the United Kingdom GBR British National Road Race Champs
1st Stage 5, Holland Ladies Tour
1st Stage 1a, Giro Della Toscana
2nd UCI Road Race World Champs
2006
1st UCI world rankings
1st Overall, UCI Women's Road World Cup
1st Castilla y Leon
1st La Flèche Wallonne Féminine
1st Treial Amser Tîm yr Awr Aur
1st La Coupe du Monde Montréal
1st Open de Suède Vargarda
1rd GP de Plouay
4th Lowland Rotterdam Tour
5th Berner-Rundfahrt
5th Rund um die Nürnberger Altstadt
6th Ronde van Vlaanderen
8th Geelong
1st Grande Boucle Feminine
1st Stage 1
1st Stage 2
1st Thuringen Rundfahrt
1st Stage 2
1st Stage 4a
1st Stage 4b
1st Stage 5
1st Flag of the United Kingdom GBR British National Road Race Champs
1st Magali Pache TT
1st Mountains Jersey, Tour of New Zealand
1st Best Young Rider, Giro del Trentino
3rd Road Race, Commonwealth Games, Melbourne
3rd UCI Road Race World Champs
2007
1st UCI world rankings
1st Flag of the United Kingdom GBR British National Road Race Champs
1st Grande Boucle Feminine
1st Tour Geelong
1st Tour Alfredo Binda
1st GP Costa Etrusca
2nd Overall, UCI Women's Road World Cup
1st Ronde van Vlannderen
1st Geelong
2nd GP de Plouay
2nd La Flèche Wallonne
4th Berner-Rundfahrt
5th La Coupe du Monde Montréal
7th Ronde van Drenthe
12th Open de Suède Vargarda
34th Rund um die Nürnberger Altstadt
4th Magali Pache TT
2008
4th Tour de l'Aude
1st Stage 1
10th Stage 4
7th Stage 6
3rd Stage 9
Awards
Preceded by
Flag of Wales Mark Hughes
BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year
2003
Succeeded by
Flag of Wales Tanni Grey-Thompson
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Flag of Australia Anna Millward
UCI Women's Road World Cup Champion
2003
Succeeded by
Flag of Australia Oenone Wood
Preceded by
Flag of Australia Oenone Wood
UCI Women's Road World Cup Champion
2006
Succeeded by
Flag of the Netherlands Marianne Vos

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ Welsh cyclist Nicole Cooke confident of recovery. www.girlstalksports.com.
  2. ^ 24th Tour de l'Aude - 2.2. Cycling News (25 May 2008).
Persondata
NAME Cooke, Nicole
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION Road bicycle racer
DATE OF BIRTH 1983-04-13
PLACE OF BIRTH Wick, Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, United Kingdom
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH