Newsgroup: it.sport.ciclismo
Titolo: Da una vecchia intervista: la mente di una campionessa

...
It is hard to imagine Cooke ever lacking self-belief. She has been 
racing competitively since the age of 12, was the youngest ever British 
senior road-race champion at the age of 16, has a penchant for maths 
with a GCSE in the bag before her thirteenth birthday and an A grade at 
A-level, taken a year early. Precocity is her middle name and she will 
not be short of work options when her career in cycling is over, but, 
for now, it fulfils her desires.
"From a very young age, I would always go out cycling with family and 
friends. I guess I must have a competitive streak in me because once I 
started racing, I loved it. For me, it's the perfect combination of 
physical strength with the mental and tactical side of it.
"It's a very tough sport and you can't get anywhere without hard 
training, but on Sunday, when we come to the end of 75 miles, there will 
be 10 or 15 riders and maybe five or six of us will be very evenly 
matched physically, so it will all come down to the right tactics and 
the mental approach."
Sports people have been heard to say that someone is too nice to be a 
champion and there is no doubt that a streak of nastiness helps to 
separate the very best from the rest. Come the closing stages, Cooke has 
a mantra that helps to spur her on, forcing that nasty streak to come out.
"You may think I'm crazy but I tell myself, 'I deserve this more than 
you'. I look at my rivals and I don't want them to win because I deserve 
it more. The times when it's really hurting you just go into a different 
zone. You don't think 'This hurts,' you just take that for granted and 
decide that you will stay on this person's wheel, at this speed and it 
will stop hurting in the end."
In the months of rehabilitation, that gifted and fiercely uncompromising 
mind must have had moments of doubt. A combination of hard work and 
concentration means that she is here in Athens, fit, pain-free and in 
form, allowing the race to take shape in her mind.
"I think I'll be one of the strongest on the day but cycling isn't like 
the 100 metres where you have your own lane and don't even have to look 
at your opponents. You need to elbow up against your rivals, look them 
in eye and battle with them. The tactical side has a big part to play 
and that's what's going to make it so interesting."
...
Cooke's views on drug takers are uncompromising. She will not share a 
room with anyone who injects vitamin supplements, let alone anything 
stronger. She believes that Millar should be stripped of every medal and 
honour he has won and that whole teams should be banned if one of their 
cyclists tests positive.
"Luckily in cycling," she explains, "the men's and women's tours are two 
completely different worlds. The whole team structure and the whole 
caravan is separate. I can tell you from my experience that women's 
cycling, perhaps because the money is less, doesn't have the same 
incentive for riders to take drugs because the rewards aren't there.
"At the moment, I'd say women's cycling is a clean sport. We do have 
riders who have taken drugs but they've been caught and dealt with. The 
men are in a very different and difficult situation. Doping does take 
place, it's been proven and I know a few male amateur cyclists who have 
wanted to turn pro and know they're not going to get there because 
they're not prepared to take drugs.
"On the men's tour, yesterday's riders are today's directors and today's 
riders will become tomorrow's directors so the line is never broken. It 
will take an awful lot to clean up men's cycling."
The dilemma is that if women's cycling takes off, the money will flood 
in, the incentive to take drugs will be greater and the high principles 
will start to crumble. However, Cooke points out that as there is no 
tradition of taking drugs in women's cycling, it does not have to be 
that way.
"I'd say that right now is perfect timing for women's cycling to make 
the progression forwards because the anti-doping authorities are so 
up-to-date with testing that no one will be able to get away with it. 
What I'd love to see is women's cycling develop from where it is now and 
for the anti-doping agencies to keep it clean. And I honestly think that 
can happen."
Women's cycling could not ask for a more forthright or eloquent 
spokesperson, but, for today, Cooke will be concentrating on the nine 
laps of Athens and the riders around her, that voice in her head 
screaming: "I deserve it more than you, and you, and you."
"I'm not trying to prove anything to anyone else," she says. "It's my 
own personal pride at stake and my ambition. I don't want to disappoint 
myself and, believe me, that's all the motivation I need."
http://sport.guardian.co.uk/olympics2004/cycling/story/0,,1283340,00.html
-- 
http://modesta.biciticino.ch
Il sito dedicato alla giovane ciclista lituana Modesta Vzesniauskaite

ma che palleeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! speriamo la becchino presto...

 ma che palleeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! speriamo la becchino presto...
Com'è possibile che non ci si renda conto della grandezza di questa 
persona? Da sola può cambiare il mondo, può risollevare le sorti 
dell'umana stirpe, può risanare il debito pubblico e sconfiggere la 
criminalità...


 ma che palleeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! speriamo la becchino presto...
È bellissimo "da una vecchia intervista".
-- 
www.ultimokilometro.com
Consigli e insulti mandateli a 
in...@ultimokilometro.com
 

 criminalità...
Tutti problemi secondari.
Quello piu' urgente l'abbiamo gia' risolto ad aprile.
Sergio
Pisa

Quello piu' urgente l'abbiamo gia' risolto ad aprile.
un mio amico era dello stesso avviso dopo aver divorziato per la prima delle 
tre volte...
-- 
Mardot

Mardot ha scritto:

Reiterata juvant.
Sergio
Pisa


wrote:

Sicuramente, resta da stabilire a chi !
Henry