Pooley pleased and excited

By Susan Westemeyer

Emma Pooley's goal in the women's Worlds Time Trial was a top ten finish, to ensure that Great Britain would get a spot in the Olympics time trial. And--rather to her own amazement--she made it, finishing eighth, 1'32" behind winner Hanka Kupfernagel. "It's what I was hoping for, but not expecting!" she happily told Cyclingnews after the race.

The excitement had cooled down a little this morning, but the happiness remained. "It was hard, very hard, but I was really pleased. I thought it was going badly for me," she told Cyclingnews. "It was a good result. I am generally just pleased."

The course was hard, "harder than expected. The thing I was worried about in training was the corners and the technical parts, you could never find a rhythm because of all the turns and gradient changes," Pooley said. "The worst was that long drag up to the end. It was soul-destroying. It just went on forever. It didn't look as steep as it was. I thought all the on-lookers were thinking how slowly I was going!"

Next on her agenda is the road race. "I'm looking forward to that. There's a little nervous anticipation, because you never know what will happen. Anything can happen in a road race!"

The early start doesn't bother the 25-year-old. "I like racing in the morning. Getting up at 6 a.m. is a bit much, though."

Firstly though, there is a normal training ride today. Not all of the other road race riders are there. Most will arrive today or tonight. Then on Friday they will all hit the course. "Tomorrow they will close the road, so we can ride it."

And how bad is the nervous anticipation? "I try to ignore it as long as I can."