Great Britain's Nicole Cooke (Univega) is the new UCI number one women's road cyclist, according to rankings released today.
Cooke had a brilliant start to the season winning the Fleche Wallone, Castilla y Leon and two stages and the overall title at the Thuringen Rundfahrt. The 23-year-old now has 955 UCI points.
Cooke moved up three places in July and leapfrogged Susanne Ljungskog, Edita Pucinskaite and Judith Arndt to claim the number one spot. Second-ranked Ljungskog has 936 points, Pucinskaite 689 with Oenone Wood rounding out the top four with 641 points.
Ljungskog's win in Friday's Open de Suède Vargarda gave her 100 points, but Cooke's second place and 70 points was enough to give her the top spot and keep her at the top of the World Cup rankings.
UCI women's rankings at July 31, 2006
