Newsgroup: it.sport.ciclismo
Titolo: 'Caged' Cooke is on a Swiss roll at Univega

Nicole Cooke is 'like a caged tiger' this summer when she cannot release 
all the pent-up frustrations of the last few years on her global rivals.
Nevertheless, the 23-year-old Wick wonder will go into this weekend's 
critical Women's World Cup series double-header in Switzerland and 
Denmark flying off the back of a terrific and merciless victory in 
Germany last week.
Cooke seems now to be almost unstoppable as she continues a brilliant 
campaign which is turning her into the rider of the year - and the 
season is still only midway through!
Cooke has already:
Finish third in the Commonwealth Games road race in Melbourne last March 
where she rode on her own for Wales against the might of the home Aussie 
team and beat the majority of them
Won the women's version of the Tour de France
Is leading the Women's World Cup series, which she clinched two years 
ago, by a street
Taken major stage race titles all over Europe
And has now won the classic Thuringen Rundfahrt 2006 title on Sunday 
with a dominant performance, backed by her Univega team-mates.
Her father, Tony Cooke, said the 2002 Commonwealth Games champion was 
now settled and happy with a great Swiss-based team after years of 
strife, injury-free and able to train as and when she wishes.
'That has all added up,' said Cooke senior.
'Confidence is oozing out of her and she's having her best season ever.
'It's absolutely wonderful. She has very much been frustrated by the 
injuries and she knows she has not achieved her potential yet.
'She says she should be the best cyclist in the world but she had 
problems in 2002 and 2003 and in 2004 and 2005, she had operations in 
the season which messed those years up.
'It's frustrated her more and more and now it's like living with a caged 
tiger when she comes home.
'She's able to train hard each week where, when she was carrying the 
injuries, she could train but only do a limited degree and that followed 
her into her races.'
And having a settled Univega team, which has a bit of backing from South 
Wales-based company Lifeforce, who hope she will ride the 2007 Ras de 
Cymru in Wales next year, has helped her enormously.
One example of the off-road problems was that, before her 2002 
Commonwealth Games road race success, Cooke had not been paid for weeks 
by her professional team.
Now that is no problem.
Dad Tony also said it was a blessing in disguise that she did not take 
up the offer of riding for the massive T-Mobile side when she was 
offered a deal last October 'and get caught up in all that drugs scandal 
they had before the Tour de France'.
Now based in Switzerland, Cooke is her team leader and everything is 
geared towards her triumphs instead, as with previous outfits, she did 
not know who was the top rider and confused what was happening.
That was shown in no uncertain terms in the Thuringen Rundfahrt where 
her selfless team-mates Emma Rickards and Priska Doppmann looked after 
the Welsh wheeler in Sunday's final 113.1km stage, cutting off any 
breakaway attacks which allowed Cooke to pace herself to perfection and 
take the victory.
Now she is back in Switzerland and preparing for the first of two 
massive races this weekend.
They are both legs of the Women's World Cup with one, a road race, 
actually in the Alpine country while the other, in Denmark, will be the 
first time a team time trial has been included in the competition.
Cooke is hot favourite to take this crown as well.
But her father added: 'She cannot win the title outright this weekend 
because the last race is double points and someone could come from 
nowhere and win and Nicole could puncture and not get any points at all.'
But one of those last three races after Sunday's Danish leg is in 
Brittany, France, where Nicole won her first ever World Junior Road Race 
Championships title.
-- 
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 Championships title.
But she has failed time and again to win the worlds and the olympics.
B-

 Field was weak however.
Weak!?!
The Thüringen Rundfahrt is one of the most important races in the 
world...and most of the best riders in the world were there...
http://www.cyclingnews.com/road.php?id=road/2006/jul06/thuringen06/default
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http://www.cyclingnews.com/road.php?id=road/2006/jul06/thuringen06/default
Well,  Judith was missing, and that drops the bar just a bit right there!
Its the biggest race in Germany for sure. Melchers was missing, Luperini was
missing, top girls, and of course Bessette is gone retired as is Jeanson,
but its not just canadians missing, but I would of liked to see more
Americans, Armstrong, Thorburn, besides Neben. Who else is missing here?
Valen, ah...others!?!
I wouldn't call it a robust field, not bad, but sadly some of the big names
were missing.
I would of liked to see a completely full robust field in memory of Amy
Gillette. :-)
B-

 were missing.
Well, we can compare this field with that of Giro donne...
And in world cup races Nicole always faced the best riders...and of 
course she is the world cup leader.
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