Cooke eighth in Spanish world cup round; Becker wins

Women's World Cup logo 2010
Nigel Wynn
By Nigel Wynn
published

Nicole Cooke (Great Britain) placed eighth in Sunday's GP Ciudad de Valladolid in Spain, the sixth round of the women's UCI World Cup.

German Charlotte Becker (Cervelo Test Team) took her first World Cup win after creating the winning break with Judith Arndt (HTC-Columbia) and Annemieke van Vleuten (Nederland Bloeit). The trio built up over a minute's lead over the bunch to deny the sprinters a chance of stage victory.

Becker was evidently aware of the fast finish of her escape companions and took the initiative to break for the line - a move that earned her the win. Arndt came home in second, with van Vleuten third.

World Cup series leader Marianne Vos (Nederland Bloeit) took the bunch sprint for fourth, one minute and six seconds adrift of Becker.

Cooke was Britain's best finisher in eighth at the same time as Vos, with Cooke's Great Britain team-mate Lucy Martin in 16thand Cervelo's Lizzie Armitstead in 23rd.

Vos sits atop the World Cup series ranking with 185 points to second-placed Emma Johansson's 125 points. Becker's win enabled her to leap up to fourth in the series. Cooke maintained her seventh spot in the season-long competition.

Emma Pooley (Cervelo) did not take part in the GP Ciudad de Valladolid, and slips from fifth in the series table to ninth. Pooley won La Fleche Wallonne, the fourth round of the World Cup, in April.

Three rounds of the 2010 UCI World Cup series remain: Open de Suède Vargarda team time trial (Sweden, July 30), Open de Suède Vargarda (Sweden, August 1) and GP de Plouay-Bretagne (France, August 21).

RESULTS

GP Ciudad de Valladolid 2010: Valladolid, 122.9km

1. Charlotte Becker (Ger) Cervelo Test Team

2. Judith Arndt (Ger) HTC-Columbia

3. Annemieke van Vleuten (Ned) Nederland Bloeit at same time

4. Marianne Vos (Ned) Nederland Bloeit at 1-06

5. Giorgia Bronzini (Ita) Gauss RDZ Ormu

6. Emma Johansson (Swe) Redsun Cycling Team

7. Monia Baccaille (Ita) Team Valdarno

8. Nicole Cooke (GB) Great Britain at same time

UCI World Cup standings

1. Marianne Vos (Ned) Nederland Bloeit 185 points

2. Emma Johansson (Swe) Redsun Cycling Team 125

3. Grace Verbeke (Bel) Lotto Ladies Team 123

4. Charlotte Becker (Ger) Cervelo Test Team 105

5. Annemieke van Vleuten (Ned) Nederland Bloeit 105

...

7. Nicole Cooke (GB) Great Britain 96

9. Emma Pooley (GB) Cervelo Test Team 82

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Nigel Wynn
Nigel Wynn
Former Associate Editor

Nigel Wynn worked as associate editor on CyclingWeekly.com, he worked almost single-handedly on the Cycling Weekly website in its early days. His passion for cycling, his writing and his creativity, as well as his hard work and dedication, were the original driving force behind the website’s success. Without him, CyclingWeekly.com would certainly not exist on the size and scale that it enjoys today. Nigel sadly passed away, following a brave battle with a cancer-related illness, in 2018. He was a highly valued colleague, and more importantly, an exceptional person to work with - his presence is sorely missed. 

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