by Fred Bamforth | Oct 4, 2014
The secret of Autobiography Publishing is timing and by and large thanks to Ms Cooke’s former colleagues at British Cycling her timing has been made perfect, Future editions of this book will contain a big ‘thankyou’ for proving her right. Shortly after publication the BC squads for the World Championship were presented, without an entrant for the Female Time Trial, an Olympic event, detailing the wholesale lack of strategy employed by them, and this lack of ‘Joined Up Thinking’ becomes the main theme as Nicole scales her way to the top.
This book could really have had the more Chauceresque title of ‘A Tale of Two Millars’ as Little Nicole begins her interest in cycling as a sport after watching Robert Millar in the Alps but ends with the sad realisation that shamed drug cheat David Millar was, despite his lies and falsehoods, still holding sway in the sport, even after his unmasking, still operating in GB Team colours alongside a then in form Ms Cooke, getting better attention and help and unlike Nicole not coming up with the goods.
It is this and many other inequalities and inequities that Nicole lists throughout her career captured for the first time in print. The term ‘Autobiography’ is a smidge misleading here as the basis of this tome is a small amount of Childhood preamble which is fairly cut & paste from most riders of the pre ‘Deep section wheel/Di2/Carbon everything’ generation seeing Nicole make do and mend with ‘hand me down’ equipment, ‘money was tight but we had fun while all the other kids had better bikes etc’, before hitting the world of Pro Cycling hard at the ripe old age of 16…. Anyone looking for an in depth opening into the life of Nicole will be disappointed as once she gets into big time Cycling she enters a storyline of training, over training, more training and some racing. We are treated to many blow by blow accounts of her battles with riders all round the world which if you and I related would sound like a massive name dropping session but to Nicole it was another day at the office. This underlines the level she operated on and provides the mystery of the piece which is why British Cycling could never [despite her success] use her as a blueprint to help bring on other female British talent. The biggest giveaway is that for Nicole to break into the British squad is that she needed legal help from such a young age. The resulting Race CV generated over the next years is testimony that most of her methods were correct and should have been studied better.
Perhaps the saddest aspect of the book is the endless list of riders, especially on the Welsh cycling Union side, that are messed about and rejected. Money, not talent, is always the issue and the list of these casualties mounts as the book goes on. This is counterpointed by the all too present reality that the names behind the scenes, actually drawing a living wage are mostly the same, highlighting the double standards on quality control that exists. These rejected riders were mostly lost to the sport, showing the lack of vision these bodies and teams have, a sport cannot be sustainable if only the tiniest elite element is cared for.
Without providing too many spoilers Ms Cooke’s biggest battles are behind the scenes, off the bike tussles, with a nebulous array of Welsh Cycling Union, British Cycling and assorted team staff (sometimes a crossover of all the above), which as the book develops give rise to the concept that cycling in Britain is more than heavily male dominated and even in the Lottery cash boom time that exists; the backup of Female coaches for the talented female riders is non-existent. Some of the names listed as being obstructive will surprise, leaving you thinking, ‘What him?? I thought he was a good guy??!!’, Ms Cooke is not afraid to mention these people which underpins her reputation for honesty. To offset any negativity this provides she does however always give praise to when and where it was required throughout her career.
The book offers a few frustrations, we know how Nicole’s career ends but there is no reference to where she goes now or what she would like to do with her time. But it serves as an apt wake-up call for the cycling scene in Britain that action is still needed to bolster the female side of the sport and take advantage of a boom time for women’s sport.
Cycling Shorts gives The Breakaway by Nicole Cooke 91% earning it our Star Buy rating.
Don’t forget to ether our competition to win a signed copy of Nicole’s book. Click here to enter.
The Breakaway by Nicole Cooke is published by Simon & Schuster UK (31 July 2014)
Available in Hardback & Digital: RRP £20.00
by Anna Magrath | Sep 28, 2014
Results from the final day of competition at the National Cycling Centre in Manchester where Jess Varnish won her fourth gold medal of the week, successfully defending her 2013 keirin title to add to the 500m time trial, sprint and team sprint titles she won earlier in the week.
Callum Skinner also enjoyed a fourth gold of the week with victory in the team sprint alongside North West region teammates Jason Kenny and Philip Hindes.
The women’s points race was won by Dame Sarah Storey and the men’s scratch title went to Oliver Wood.
Women’s Keirin
Gold: Jessica Varnish (Team V-Sprint Racing)
Silver: Dannielle Khan (Solihull CC)
Bronze: Katy Marchant (Unattached)
Men’s Team Sprint
Gold: North West (Philip Hindes, Jason Kenny and Callum Skinner)
Silver: Sportcity Velo (Jack Payne, Matthew Rotherham and Thomas Rotherham)
Bronze: Performance Cycle Coaching (Peter Mitchell, Ryan Owens and Thomas Scammell)
Women’s Points
Gold: Dame Sarah Storey (Pearl Izumi Sports Tours International)
Silver: Elinor Barker (Wiggle Honda)
Bronze: Laura Trott (Wiggle Honda)
Men’s Scratch
Gold: Oliver Wood (100% ME)
Silver: Zachery May (Metaltek KUOTA RT)
Bronze: Christopher Latham (100%)
by Anna Magrath | Sep 27, 2014
©Alex Broadway/SWpix.com – 2014 British Cycling National Track Championships – Day 4 – Men’s 30km Points Race Final.
Results from day four of competition at the National Cycling Centre in Manchester where Jess Varnish’s perfect week continued as she and Dannielle Khan successfully defended their team sprint title, Laura Trott took victory in the women’s scratch, Callum Skinner made it three titles in three days with his keirin win and Mark Stewart won the points race title. Lewis Oliva also took a dramatic tumble in the semi final of the Men’s Sprint against Matt Crampton, Matt did amazingly well to stay upright.
Lewis Oliva’s crash in the semi-final of the British Cycling National Track Championships sprint.
British Cycling Sprint Championships presented by FIAT – Men
Gold: Callum Skinner (The Rigmar Racers)
Silver: Matthew Crampton
Bronze: Philip Hindes (Sprint-Team)
Women’s Team Sprint
Gold: West Midlands (Dannielle Khan and Jessica Varnish) 33.969
Silver: North West A (Katy Marchant and Victoria Williamson) 34.142
Bronze: North West B (Rachel James and Helen Scott) 34.998
Women’s Scratch
Gold: Laura Trott (Wiggle Honda)
Silver: Emily Kay (Team USN)
Bronze: Danielle King (Wiggle Honda)
Men’s Points
Gold: Mark Stewart (Spokes RT)
Silver: Mark Christian (Team Raleigh-GAC)
Bronze: Jonathan Mould (NFTO Pro Cycling)
The championships conclude on Sunday 28 September. Tickets are available on the door at the National Cycling Centre. Competition starts at 10:30am with the women’s keirin, men’s team sprint, women’s points race and men’s scratch race titles being decided.
by Chris Maher | Sep 27, 2014
Image ©www.chrismaher.co.uk
Qualifying
Jessica Lee from Glasgow Rapide TCT set the day three afternoon session underway in the Women’s Sprint Qualifying event with a 12.796 ride. Defending Champion Jessica Varnish, last to set about qualifying, could only manage a third place with a 11.370.
It was Danielle Khan that qualified in first position posting a respectable 11.349 with Victoria Williamson second at 11.358 & Katy Marchant fourth 11.400.
1 Danielle Khan 11.349
2 Victoria Williamson 11.358
3 Jessica Varnish 11.370
4 Katy Marchant 11.400
5 Helen Scott 11.724
6 Lauren Quenby 12.308
7 Hannah Blount 12.439
8 Crystal Lane 12.508
9 Laura Clode 12.655
10 Neah Evans 12.701
11 Jessica Lee 12.796
12 Sophie Black 13.507
Danielle Khan, Victoria Williamson, Jessica Varnish, Katy Marchant, Helen Scott & Lauran Quenby ride through round one of the Women’s Sprint Event.
The Velodrome is lifted with the chorus of children enjoying an afternoon out cheering the riders as they past the home straight.
Khan, Williamson, Varnish & Marchant go through to the semi finals.
The Women’s Individual Pursuit saw World Champion Joanna Rowsell drop into third place for tonight’s finals. Both Katie Archibald & defending champion Laura Trott will go head-to-head for the Gold Medal. Rowsell will ride for Bronze Medal against Elinor Barker.
1 Katie Archibald 3:34.471
2 Laura Trott 3:34.814
3 Joanna Rowsell 3:36.593
4 Elinor Barker 3:37.876
5 Ciara Horne 3:38.196
6 Dani King 3:40.064
7 Dame Sarah Story 3:41.556
8 Anna Turvey 3:44.811
9 Amy Roberts 3:45.919
10 Emily Kay 3:49.306
11 Hayley Simmonds 3:52.269
12 Madeline Moore 3:56.341
13 Niki Kovacs 3:59.243
14 Brit Tate 4:00.363
15 Sophie Lankford 4:04.759
16 Ruth Taylor 4:05.817
17 Jennifer McAndrew 4:07.639
18 Kiera McVitty 4:10.882
19 Jessica Hill 4:12.579
Open 4000m Qualifying (NR: Chris Boardman 4.11.114)
Andrew Tennant secures his Gold Medal ride off against Steven Burke in tonight’s 4000m individual pursuit. Jon Dibben & Mark Christian will ride for the final podium place.
Andy Tennant – ©www.chrismaher.co.uk
1 Andrew Tennant 4:21.468
2 Steven Burke 4:26.503
3 Jonathan Dibben 4:27.102
4 Mark Christian 4:27.421
5 Oliver Wood 4:29.242
6 Mark Stewart 4:29.528
7 Chris Latham 4:30.311
8 Germain Burtain 4:30.689
9 Silas Goldsworthy 4:38.524
10 Alex Minting 4:38.977
11 Harry Tanfield 4:39.851
12 Tom Ward 4:40.589
13 Andrew Stuart 4:41.397
14 Jon Mould 4:41.533
15 Alex Paton 4:42.261
16 Adam Duggleby 4:43.113
17 Scott Burns 4:43.573
18 Alistair Rutherford 4:44.471
19 Kyle Gordon 4:45.310
20 Chris Lawless 4:45.886
21 Nicholas English 4:46.661
22 Edmund Bradbury 4:47295
23 Peter Anderson 4:47.856
24 Gavin Murty 4:50.625
25 Jacob Tipper 4:50.861
26 Jonathan Gildea 4:51.536
27 Jack Green 4:52.106
28 Ashley Martin 4:52.625
29 Alan Thomson 4:53.360
30 Joe Andrews 4:58.398
31 Deacon Cutterham 4:59.361
32 Jaco Van Gass 5:04.102
33 Brendan Drewett 5:11.756
34 Howard Heighton 5:23.162
35 Robert Bishop 5:26.042
Evening Finals
Para-cycling Flying Start 200m Time Trial Medals
2010 Holder: Jon-Allan Butterworth WR 11.105
2011 Holder: Jon-Allan Butterworth WR 10.897 MC5
2012 Holder: Mark Colbourne WR 11.105 MC1
2013 Holder: Crystal Lane
2014 Results:
- Gold – Jaco Van GassMC412.314
- Silver – Lauren Booth FC4 12.485
- Bronze – Matthew Hamilton MC5 12.666
Para-cycling Mixed BVI Flying Start 200m Time Trial Medals
- Gold – Sophie Thornhill & Rachael James
- Silver – Neil Fachie & Peter Mitchell
- Bronze – Laura Cluxton & Louise Haston
Women’s 3000m Pursuit Medals (Non Olympic Event)
2009 Holder: Sarah Storey 3:40.147
2010 Holder: Wendy Hovenaghel 3:31.555
2011 Holder: Joanna Rowsell
2012 Holder: Lucy Garner
2013 Holder: Laura Trott OBE
2014 Results:
- Gold – Katie Archibald
- Silver – Laura Trott
- Bronze – Joanna Rowsell
Steven Burke trailed Andrew Tennant in this mornings qualifying by almost five seconds. Setting off at a blistering place in his ride for Gold against Tennant, at one point had him in his sights for that elusive early catch. Tennant kept his machine-like pace, and by the midway point had turned the table, with Burke now in his sights. Burke’s legs were buckling by this point, so it didn’t take much longer for Andrew Tennant, to catch, and take the Championship Jersey.
Open 4000m Pursuit Medal (Non Olympic Event)
2008 Holder: Steven Burke
2009 Holder: Geraint Thomas 4:18.241
2010 Holder: Peter Kennaugh 4:25.215
2011 Holder: Steven Burke
2012 Holder: Owain Doull
2013 Holder: Ed Clancy MBE
2014 Results:
- Gold – Andrew Tennant
- Silver – Steven Burke
- Bronze – Jonathan Dibben
Women’s Sprint Medals (Olympic Event)
2008 Holder: Victoria Pendleton
2009 Holder: Victoria Pendleton 10.984
2010 Holder: Victoria Pendleton 11.067
2011 Holder: Rebecca James
2012 Holder: Rebecca James
2013 Holder: Jessica Varnish
2014 Results:
- Gold – Jessica Varnish
- Silver – Katy Marchant
- Bronze – Victoria Williamson
Open Keirin Medals (Olympic Event)
2008 Holder: Matt Crampton
2009 Holder: Sir Chris Hoy MBE
2010 Holder: Ross Edgar
2011 Holder: Sir Chris Hoy MBE
2012 Holder: Matt Crampton
2013 Holder: Jason Kenny OBE
2014 Results:
- Gold – Callum Skinner
- Silver – Matt Crampton
- Bronze – Lewis Oliva
Official National Track Championship Website & Live Updates
Results by British Cycling
My photos are regularly updated on https://www.flickr.com/photos/23913935@N07/
The secret of Autobiography Publishing is timing and by and large thanks to Ms Cooke’s former colleagues at British Cycling her timing has been made perfect, Future editions of this book will contain a big ‘thankyou’ for proving her right. Shortly after publication the BC squads for the World Championship were presented, without an entrant for the Female Time Trial, an Olympic event, detailing the wholesale lack of strategy employed by them, and this lack of ‘Joined Up Thinking’ becomes the main theme as Nicole scales her way to the top.
The book offers a few frustrations, we know how Nicole’s career ends but there is no reference to where she goes now or what she would like to do with her time. But it serves as an apt wake-up call for the cycling scene in Britain that action is still needed to bolster the female side of the sport and take advantage of a boom time for women’s sport.
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