T
Tony W
Guest
The Grauniad is running a list of women most likely to succeed. A certain Nicole Cooke appears
second in their list.
:~)
T
http://www.guardian.co.uk/gender/story/0,11812,1052433,00.html
Story reads:-
Nicole Cooke Age: 20 Cyclist
Nicole Cooke moves fast. Two years ago, when racing as a junior, Cooke signalled her intentions by
winning gold in not one but three disciplines at cycling's world championships. This year she has
established herself as a major force in the senior ranks by claiming the season-long world cup
competition with, to date, three outright wins in seven races. Still just 20 and in only her second
year as a professional, Cooke has already proved herself one of the best in the world.
In a context where women's cycling rarely even merits a mention among the results listings on
British sports pages, this chirpy, affable young woman from Wick in the Vale of Glamorgan has
already raised the profile of the sport significantly. As a pro, she is now based in Italy and
spends eight months of the year racing in mainland Europe or further afield. After her last race of
the season, the world championships, she is ready to come home to see family and friends. "Catching
up with people is very important to me," she says. "I'm looking forward to having some quiet time to
relax." Having already mastered Italian, she now plans to learn French - a useful language for a
professional cyclist. And she would like to take some piano lessons. She used to play the violin
before cycling took over her life.
That started when she was 11 and took part in her first cyclo-cross [off-road] race. "It was cold
and rainy and muddy - but it was fun, and I was hooked," she recalls. Her talent was such that,
within a few weeks, she had won in her age category at the Welsh championships - competing
against boys as well as girls. A good many boys since have had to get used to being bested by
Cooke. By the time she was a teenager, she would go to Holland every summer for a big junior
stage race. "At first, the Dutch boys didn't like to be beaten by a foreign girl." But as her
years as a junior passed, she made her mark: "They knew me and they knew that I raced hard, so
I'd built some respect."
Racing in the Netherlands was important for another reason. "In the UK, women's cycling is covered
so little, I didn't know anything about it - and I was already into cycling," she says. "But
spending time in Holland, I realised that cyclists could get recognition and be real stars." As she
progressed, it became clear that she had the potential to earn a living by racing. So far, she
simply loves her cycling: "I don't really think of it as a job." Despite having chosen one of the
most arduous sports going, motivation does not seem a problem. "I'm quite ambitious and determined,"
she says. "In competitive situations, it's my pride and wanting to keep up my reputation."
At present, she still has too many goals in the sport - the Olympics, the women's editions of the
Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia, the world championships - to think much about the future
beyond her pro career. But she expects to stay in cycling. "In my local area, around Cardiff, I like
to think that I'm an inspiration to youngsters," she says. "If the opportunity came along, I'd like
to be an ambassador for cycling."
And since women's cycling is very much the poor relation to the men's sport, there are plenty of
improvements she would like to make. "There is no minimum wage for women," she says [men are
guaranteed a minimum wage from their team sponsors], "and the sport is not well regulated by the UCI
[cycling's governing body]." Her Italian team is a good one but, she says, "Some are not well
managed and take advantage of women."
Which is something, one senses, that will never happen to her. Ask her what her greatest ambition
is, and her steady, even reply is: "To be remembered as the best woman cyclist ever." From someone
less unassuming - or less talented - this might sound like pride. From Nicole Cooke, it just seems
like a statement of fact.
second in their list.
:~)
T
http://www.guardian.co.uk/gender/story/0,11812,1052433,00.html
Story reads:-
Nicole Cooke Age: 20 Cyclist
Nicole Cooke moves fast. Two years ago, when racing as a junior, Cooke signalled her intentions by
winning gold in not one but three disciplines at cycling's world championships. This year she has
established herself as a major force in the senior ranks by claiming the season-long world cup
competition with, to date, three outright wins in seven races. Still just 20 and in only her second
year as a professional, Cooke has already proved herself one of the best in the world.
In a context where women's cycling rarely even merits a mention among the results listings on
British sports pages, this chirpy, affable young woman from Wick in the Vale of Glamorgan has
already raised the profile of the sport significantly. As a pro, she is now based in Italy and
spends eight months of the year racing in mainland Europe or further afield. After her last race of
the season, the world championships, she is ready to come home to see family and friends. "Catching
up with people is very important to me," she says. "I'm looking forward to having some quiet time to
relax." Having already mastered Italian, she now plans to learn French - a useful language for a
professional cyclist. And she would like to take some piano lessons. She used to play the violin
before cycling took over her life.
That started when she was 11 and took part in her first cyclo-cross [off-road] race. "It was cold
and rainy and muddy - but it was fun, and I was hooked," she recalls. Her talent was such that,
within a few weeks, she had won in her age category at the Welsh championships - competing
against boys as well as girls. A good many boys since have had to get used to being bested by
Cooke. By the time she was a teenager, she would go to Holland every summer for a big junior
stage race. "At first, the Dutch boys didn't like to be beaten by a foreign girl." But as her
years as a junior passed, she made her mark: "They knew me and they knew that I raced hard, so
I'd built some respect."
Racing in the Netherlands was important for another reason. "In the UK, women's cycling is covered
so little, I didn't know anything about it - and I was already into cycling," she says. "But
spending time in Holland, I realised that cyclists could get recognition and be real stars." As she
progressed, it became clear that she had the potential to earn a living by racing. So far, she
simply loves her cycling: "I don't really think of it as a job." Despite having chosen one of the
most arduous sports going, motivation does not seem a problem. "I'm quite ambitious and determined,"
she says. "In competitive situations, it's my pride and wanting to keep up my reputation."
At present, she still has too many goals in the sport - the Olympics, the women's editions of the
Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia, the world championships - to think much about the future
beyond her pro career. But she expects to stay in cycling. "In my local area, around Cardiff, I like
to think that I'm an inspiration to youngsters," she says. "If the opportunity came along, I'd like
to be an ambassador for cycling."
And since women's cycling is very much the poor relation to the men's sport, there are plenty of
improvements she would like to make. "There is no minimum wage for women," she says [men are
guaranteed a minimum wage from their team sponsors], "and the sport is not well regulated by the UCI
[cycling's governing body]." Her Italian team is a good one but, she says, "Some are not well
managed and take advantage of women."
Which is something, one senses, that will never happen to her. Ask her what her greatest ambition
is, and her steady, even reply is: "To be remembered as the best woman cyclist ever." From someone
less unassuming - or less talented - this might sound like pride. From Nicole Cooke, it just seems
like a statement of fact.
) wrote:
