Cooke does an ‘Armstrong’
Nicole Cooke took her sixth British Road Race Championship title in seven years at the weekend, as she is just too good in the finale. Still only 22, the awesome power of the Welshwoman relegated England’s Rachel Heal to sencond place for a fourth time in a tight sprint finish.

Belgian based Emma Davies completed the podium despite cramp on a hot day and a gruelling 106-kilometre course.

But Cooke is unlikely to ride the Giro as there are some problems with contracts

“We’ve got some unusual things happening with our team at the moment,” said Cooke on BBC Sport’s website
“Even I don’t know what’s going on. Here I am, I’m fit, I want to defend my Giro. There’s something going on – Italian politics.”

1. Nicole Cooke Safi Pasta/Zara 3.03.08
2. Rachel Heal S.A.T.S/Colnago
3. Emma Davies Vlaandaren
4. Emma Pooley Cambridge University CC
5. Helen Wyman Team Fatbirds UK
6. Amy Hunt Omipex-Bioracer @6.07
7. Charlotte Goldsmith Vlaadaren/Capri
8. Catherine Hare Team Bianchi
9. Wendy Houvengal Ricci Bikechain
10. Lisa Hollingshead Websters Cycles @6.19

Team work pays off for recycling team… (From team PR)
Russell ‘Fonzy’ Downing today capped a fantastic season for himself and his recycling.co.uk / MG XPower / Litespeed team by winning the British Road Race Championship in North Yorkshire. Fonzy took the champion’s white, red and blue jersey ahead of Steve Cummings (Landbouwkredit / Colnago) in a thrilling race with the entire recycling.co.uk / MG XPower / Litespeed team active throughout.

Team director Phil Leigh commented after the race, “We had a plan and worked it through, to get as many guys in front and take the race to the top challengers like Roger Hammond and Jeremy Hunt and make them chase the race a bit, we wanted to distance them and be strong at the finish”.

Paul Manning and Rob Sharman were the first team members to escape the main field and were later joined by their team captain together with Chris Newton, with Rob Hayles the last to join them in a 15-strong lead group. Phil stated, “They all rode well in the group, while Ben and Evan were covering the likes of Hammond and Hunt, so all seven riders played a perfect part, it was a big team effort, we were very organised and focused and worked as a team”.

Within the final 10km the group were reduced to eight riders with Downing making his winning move with 5km to go. Cummings was the only rider who could match him and as they approached the finishing straight within the grounds of Duncombe Park it was to be Fonzy’s day as he crossed the line victorious. The 26-year-old South Yorkshire rider was overawed as he crossed the line and at first couldn’t quite grasp the enormity of what he’d done, but said later, “Wow this is superb, it’s something I’ve always wanted and I’ve done it, I’ve achieved one of my lifetimes ambitions”.

A few other National Champions from around Europe
Austria: Gerrit Glomser (Lampre-Caffita)
Belgium: Serge Baguet (Davitamon-Lotto)
Denmark: Lars Ytting Bak (Team CSC)
France: Pierrick Fedrigo (Bouygues Telecom)
Germany: Gerald Ciolek (Akud Arnolds Sicherheit)
Ireland: David O’Loughlin (Navigators Insurance)
Italy: Enrico Gasparotto (Liquigas – Bianchi)
Kazakhstan: Alexandre Vinokourov (T-Mobile)
Luxembourg: Frank Schleck (Team CSC)
Netherlands: Leon van Bon (Davitamon-Lotto)
Norway: Morten Christiansen (CK Bjørgvin)
Poland: Adam Wadecki (Intel – Action)
Portugal: Joaquim Andrade (Riberalves)
Russia: Sergey Ivanov (T-Mobile)
Spain: Juan Manuel Gárate (Saunier Duval Prodir)
Switzerland: Martin Elmiger (Phonak Hearing Systems)

Armstrong over the bars, but unhurt and Ullrich has new girlfriend
In a slow speed stack whilst heading off on a TT training session Lance Armstrong suffered minor injuries afte a tumble over the bars and landing on his head. His helmet took the brunt of the fall and he now has a nice black eye for next week’s first time trial of the Tour de France…

…meanwhile Jan Ullrich is dating again. The lucky lady is Sara Steinhauser sister of his good friend Tobias Steinhauser. Sara, 28, works as a marketing expert for the ski-maker Elan.

Manchester Velodrome Additional Track Sessions
As well as the normal sessions that run every week all the time, The Manchester Velodrome have some additional track sessions specially for those riders training for the nationals and masters but have not got their accreditation yet. Just call 0161 223 2244 and book a place on the following sessions;

24th July @ 9-12 midday
14th August @ 2-5pm
27th August @ 7-10pm

Experienced track coaches will be on hand at all times to offer advice and run the session. Cost for each session is £7.60

We also will be running another track coaches course in the near future. BC Club coaches who would like to upgrade to become a Velodrome accredited coach should e-mail Andrea on to express an interest. The course will be over two days and the cost will be £50