Newsgroup: it.sport.ciclismo
Titolo: Nicole Cooke meglio di Lance

Cycling: She's one tough Cookie
NICOLE COOKE chuckles when told she has beaten cycling legend Lance 
Armstrong on two counts.
The Welsh wonder's astonishing dominance of La Grande Boucle Feminine - 
the women's Tour de France - means she has done the double when it comes 
to the major stage races.
Two years ago Cooke stunned followers of the stamina-sapping sport by 
pedalling her way to a shock success in the Giro d'Italia Donne at the 
tender age of 21.
Armstrong never competed in the men's Tour of Italy because he believed 
it would undermine his mission to conquer France.
He would argue that decision was vindicated with a record seven Tour de 
France crowns before he hung up his racing wheels last year.
But Cooke has taken the road of Spanish great Miguel Indurian and 
Italian Marco Pantani, who both did the Grand Tours double in the 1990s.
And she also succeeded in La Grand Boucle, where Armstrong failed in the 
men's equivalent, by winning a stage that contained the mythical Mont 
Ventoux, otherwise known as the Giant of Provence.
Armstrong never fulfilled his ambition of winning over the 1,900m high 
mountain - the legendary peak where Britain's world champion Tommy 
Simpson literally rode himself to exhaustion and death in the 1967 Tour 
de France.
The baking heat was again present on the exposed slopes of the Ventoux 
when Cooke, now 23, took off on the 115km fourth stage for a victory 
that will enter cycling folklore.
It was branded a "furnace" the day Simpson died and the thermometer 
passed 100 F as Cooke broke clear of her rivals with just five of the 
22km of the legendary climb gone. She had a huge gap when she rode past 
the memorial to Simpson built on the stony slopes.
The Univega Raleigh Lifeforce leader pulled further and further ahead, 
even increasing her lead on the descent and 35km of flat that followed 
for a memorable solo triumph.
Runner-up Maryline Salvetat (France) finished 4min 4sec behind with 
Mexico's Laura Morfin a tired third a staggering 11min 18sec back.
It was Cooke's second stage victory of the event and was the key to her 
beating Salvetat by 6min 27sec in the final standings. Russia's Tatsiana 
Sharakova was third at 13min 25sec.
"When I stood on the podium, it was a very proud moment because, when I 
was young, I went and watched the Grand Boucle with my mother, father 
and brother," explained Cooke.
"I dreamt of winning this race in the sun on the mountains and in the 
grand scenery of France. Riding up the Ventoux, with the knowledgeable 
crowd cheering, was fantastic.
"It has to be one of my favourite victories because of the history and 
prestige of winning on the Ventoux. I so much wanted to win and win 
alone. Accomplishing that has given me many happy memories.
"To be in possession of a pink jersey for winning the Giro and a yellow 
for the Tour is, well, rather special."
What makes Wick wonder Cooke's achievements all the more remarkable is 
she is only 23. Stage racers are generally at the peak of their powers 
in their late 20s and early 30s when vast reservoirs of stamina have 
been built up.
But the Maindy Flyers and Cardiff Ajax product already possesses a huge 
engine, which has pumped out enough horsepower to win four world junior 
titles, Commonwealth Games gold and bronze medals, a World Cup series 
victory and seven British crowns to make her the most successful British 
road racer in history.
There's also silver and bronze medals at senior world championships and 
a fifth place at the 2004 Athens Olympics.
But Cooke won't even contemplate looking as far ahead as the Beijing 
Olympics in two years time and London in 2012.
"I think I'll concentrate on this season first," she says, with her 
immediate priority being to regain the World Cup she won three years ago.
Cooke leads Germany's Judith Arndt by 49 points at the halfway mark of 
the 12-round series with Australia's Oenone Wood a whopping 80 points 
further adrift.
"It looks like it's between Judith and me. I'll prepare for the next 
round, which takes place in Sweden on July 28, by riding the Thuringen 
Rundfahrt Tour in Germany," said Switzerland-based Cooke, who is no 
different to all great champions, people like Armstrong and Formula One 
king Michael Schumacher, in that she despises losing.
It's no secret - despite her reluctance to discuss it in depth - that 
she wants to wear the gold medal, which narrowly eluded her in a sprint 
finish at the Madrid world championships, when this year's event takes 
place in Austria on September 22.
Cooke, a notorious planner, has already ridden the tough Salzburg circuit.
She likes it, explaining, "It's very hard through the middle section 
with the climb. Then there's a descent and a bit of flat before the 
finish. It's definitely going to be a hard race."
Just up her street, you'd imagine, because the tougher it is the better 
she seems to go.
Fierce competitor Cooke has a remarkably high pain threshold, having 
pushed herself to such extremes she has been unable to speak for five 
minutes following some gruelling uphill finishes in past races.
And she is quite prepared to address the thorny subject of doping in 
cycling in the wake of an alleged drugs scandal which ruled the expected 
big two - Jan Ullrich and Ivan Basso, who was, ironically chasing a 
Giro-Tour double after winning in Italy six weeks ago - out of the men's 
Tour de France before a wheel was turned in anger.
It's a real hot potato with 56 cyclists, including Basso, Ullrich and 
Francisco Mancebo, who finished second, third and fourth behind 
Armstrong at last year's Tour, having been implicated in the Spanish 
Civil Guard's Operation Puerto, which has allegedly produced, among 
other things, damning evidence of blood-doping, EPO, growth hormone and 
testosterone use.
It has been claimed footballers, tennis players and athletes are 
included among the other 144 suspected cheats.
Although women's cycling doesn't have the profile and financial rewards 
of the men's side of the sport there have been positive tests for banned 
performance enhancing substances. But they are rare compared to the men.
Cooke, though, believes the latest scandal sends out the right message, 
that cheats can be caught.
"I actually think it's good what has happened over the last few weeks. 
Although no one has been found guilty of any offence yet, it will start 
people thinking about what they might be doing," said Cooke. "Maybe it 
needs something like this to persuade them to change their ways. I don't 
know the full details of it all so I can only give an opinion from afar.
"In some respects women's cycling is far removed from men's. I'd compare 
it to men's and women's basketball, vastly different."
"I know what I am achieving in my racing is because of the training I 
do. I know everything I have done is through hard work and I am very 
proud of that."
She is keeping a watchful eye on the men's Tour de France - the fifth 
stage took place yesterday - and is tipping one of Armstrong's disciples 
to succeed the master.
George Hincapie was a key lieutenant in the Discovery Channel team and 
she thinks he can go all the way to Paris in the yellow jersey.
"Hincapie set the pace for Armstrong in the mountains last year, killing 
himself on the front of the bunch. So it's logical, now he doesn't have 
to do that work, he can win the Tour," explained Cooke.
-- 
http://modesta.biciticino.ch
Il sito dedicato alla giovane ciclista lituana Modesta Vzesniauskaite

 to do that work, he can win the Tour," explained Cooke.
Big George is exactly that, too big for a tour winner.
B-
ps-Modesta wouldn't like this diversion! :-)

 her a legend.
Well, Nicole was gifted with such a strong and powerful body and also 
with an incredible and unique mental toughness that made her a champion. 
And she is also a very intelligent person.
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 fino alle sue ultime molecole di ossigeno ancora in lei.
Forse meglio parlare di atomi d'ossigeno o molecole d'aria...prima che 
qualcuno mi corregga...anche se estensivamente parlando, al di fuori 
della chimica, non sarebbe affatto un utilizzo sbagliato del termine.
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 della chimica, non sarebbe affatto un utilizzo sbagliato del termine.
Ok, it would perhaps interesting to know what her VO2 max, latic acid
thresholds would be, etc. Some real scientific tests, watts, output, etc. I
remember reading threads about Luperini in the 90's when there was
discussions about Luperini lung capacity, VO2 max, and her lactic acid
thresholds. You rarely hear of detailed research on any women, like they do
on Lance in the high tech labs. For instance how much blood was Luperini
heart pumping per minute at peak heart rate, and maxium wattage on the
climbs like Ventoux?
These are stats that don't exist in any comparision charts for women,
statisical analysis.
Still, I am open to it, sounds like fun and quite interesting to know these
things.
B-

Forse meglio parlare di atomi d'ossigeno o molecole d'aria...
A volte lo sbaglio è proprio parlare. Normalmente (anche
nell'emoglobina) l'ossigeno si presenta in forma molecolare (O2), la
forma atomica è instabile; l'aria, per contro, essendo una miscela,
non ha propriamente molecole.
Ciao.

 non ha propriamente molecole.
Ecco che arriva lo scienziato che sa tutto lui. :-)
Grazie per le precisazioni, ora posso respirare meglio.
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http://www.nicolecooke.com/images/2005/gallery/fleche05.jpg
Ed ecco cosa ha detto dopo la vittoria di quest'anno:
http://www.womenscycling.net/2006/EventsPages2006/WorldCupRoad/04_002_FlecheResults.htm
Nicole Cooke was completely exhausted after her win, collapsing to the 
floor. “Thank you for cheering” Cooke said to the supporters lining the 
road as she finished. Talking to reporters after the race, Cooke was 
explaining her race approach. “I was challenging for a podium but you 
can never be sure. I was a bit concerned when Zabelinskaya broke away 
but my team worked so hard for me they are incredible.
Asked how she felt coming up the last 100m Cooke added “I switched off 
my pain sensors to 'indestructable', it was so painful. Even though it 
is 1km it is very long because it is so steep, so right from the bottom 
I paced myself I went at my maximum. First of all, Senff attacked hard 
and went into the lead. I thought, if she is strong then that is it. As 
we went through the hairpins, Wood and I overtook Senff. Wood took the 
lead, she went very strong. I thought that if she is stronger than me 
then I can’t do anything about it. If I had gone hard at that point I 
would have blown. I went at my own pace and over took Wood at the 100m 
mark. I managed to go up a gear and go faster her, maybe my experience 
of this climb worked for me today.”
Cooke was enthused about the team performance and how hard the team 
worked today. “We have a team for all races, we have developed and grown 
as riders and as a team. We have spent a lot of time together off the 
bike together we know the people not just the rider and this has helped. 
We have helped each other in training, we have a great team spirit.”
http://www.cyclingnews.com/photos/2006/apr06/flechewallonne_w06/index.php?id=_mg_0350
http://www.cyclingnews.com/photos/2006/apr06/flechewallonne_w06/index.php?id=IMG_0124
http://www.cyclingnews.com/photos/2006/apr06/flechewallonne_w06/index.php?id=IMG_0126
http://www.cyclingnews.com/photos/2006/apr06/flechewallonne_w06/index.php?id=IMG_0127
http://www.cyclingnews.com/photos/2006/apr06/flechewallonne_w06/index.php?id=IMG_0128
http://www.cyclingnews.com/photos/2006/apr06/flechewallonne_w06/index.php?id=Flche-Wallonne_podium_women
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