Commonwealth Champion Nicole Cooke will not be able to participate in the next UCI Women's Road World Cup, the Grand Prix of Wales, Newport, UK, on August 20, 2005. Cooke has had to undergo further surgery earlier this month to treat a recurrent knee injury. "This is all immensely frustrating," she said from her home in South Wales. "The World Cup in Newport was one of my big target races this season and I am devastated to miss racing in front of my home crowd. I had hoped my knee would recover but the medical advice is that more recuperation time is needed," she explained.
The Newport race, the 8th leg of the World Cup, will make its debut on British soil. With Nicole's withdrawal, the British top contenders will now be Rachel Heal (Great Britain Team) and Emma Davies (Vlaanderen-Capri Sonne-T Interim), with strong competition expected from World Cup Champion and current series leader Oenone Wood (Team Nürnberger), Olympic Champion Sara Carrigan of Australia (Team Ton Van Bemmelen) and World Champion Judith Arndt (Team Nürnberger) of Germany.
