After a couple of seasons marred by injuries, Nicole Cooke has been almost unbeatable in 2006. She's also one of the most vehemently anti-doping riders, refusing to inject anything into her body - even vitamins and sugars - and refusing to room with anyone else who does. Ben Atkins caught up with the 23-year-old world number one as she builds up for the end of her season - the last few World Cup races and the World Championships - to reflect on what has so far been a fantastic season for her and her Univega-Raleigh team and how she feels about the less positive stories in the men's peloton.
After a fantastic season so far, Cooke can pick out a few specific results for herself and her team-mates that have given her the most satisfaction, "My third win out of the last three times I've ridden Flèche Wallonne is a highlight as it also marked the change in direction of the World Cup," she said. "The Thüringen Tour was a special race for the whole team as it was a race we targeted before the season had even started and every rider rode out of their skin during that week: Jo crashed on stage 2 and had to be restrained by the doctors for her own safety as she was desperate to get back on her bike, or any bike she could get her hands on and feet clipped into, so she could finish the stage and continue in the race!
"Christiane rode a fantastic prologue to take the leader's jersey, which got the team psyched up. Then when it really counted there was some serious work done by Priska, Karin and Emma who all gave so much and played such an important role in the final result... I was very proud of how we rode and glad to justify all the hard work. Oh, that's not even mentioning the support from my team-mates at home who were not competing in Thüringen..."
