Newsgroup: it.sport.ciclismo
Titolo: Europe gives us so much more respect

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/sport/othersports.html?in_article_id=421529&in_page_id=1781
Nicole Cooke's response to being shortlisted for BBC Sports Personality 
of the Year is typically forthright.
"It's about time," said the first British cyclist ever to be ranked No 1 
in the world.
This year Cooke, 23, trumped her own previous successes, thanks to 
victory in the World Cup series, a memorable triumph in the women's 
Tourde France and wins in numerous other races.
She is better known and more celebrated in Europe, where she races 
professionally, but admits that being honoured at home will make a 
pleasant change ? and diversion ? before she returns to the serious 
business of pushing her body and mind to the limit.
"It's a big bonus, to be honest," said Cooke.
"Something like the Sports Personality show is a lot of fun and a bit of 
a highlight in the off-season.
"Being nominated is a step in the right direction for me and for 
cycling. It's very different in Europe, where the real world of cycling 
exists and there"s a lot of respect for champions. One of my highlights 
outside racing this year was the German equivalent of these awards.
"They only gave out six or seven, and myself and a German cyclist 
received two.
"But what's important to me is my results as a cyclist and I've been 
almost as good as I can be this year. It was a fantastic season and 
no-one can take that away from me.
"I know that cycling is one of the toughest sports, that it is genuinely 
a global sport, and that I'm the best."
All that remains is to win the two major one-off races that have so far 
eluded her: the World Championships and the Olympics. This year Cooke 
added a bronze to the silver and bronze she had already claimed in the 
World Championship road race and is also determined to return from 
Beijing with a gold medal, after a crash in Athens meant she finished 
fifth.
"For the last few years I have been as well prepared as I could possibly 
be," she said.
"I have made some tactical errors or misjudgments but I have also be 
riding at a numerical disadvantage.
"The Germans always have four riders in a 20-strong World Championship 
final and that does have an effect.
"The best thing would be for me to be on an even playing field with my 
competitors, which means having stronger women cyclists in Britain.
"It would be great to have two or three Brits alongside me when the race 
reached a crucial stage."
But for now Cooke is well out in front of her compatriots and the bane 
of her rivals. The bad news for the latter is that she can see herself 
riding on for another decade.
"I'm going to keep going for as long as I'm enjoying it," she said. "And 
there's nothing to beat the feeling of winning."
-- 
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 business of pushing her body and mind to the limit.
I am afraid I am just your audience of one, out of pity for poor Nicole
here, but really perhaps you can get a better perspective to look at a wider
range of opinions in the UK, outside of the BBC. I can imagine them writing
more articles about Nicole then you could possibly imagine over the last few
years, and then giving her the shaft, but look at what other British papers
are saying if you want a more rounded view, the Guardian for one, and what
about the long standing premiere cycling magazine, Cycling Weekly, how much
press is she getting from them? I wouldn't put too much stock in this sports
award, but surely there are dozens of sports magazines in Britain, and how
much stock does she hold in these editions?
B-