Outside the Sanctuary of the Madonna Del Ghisallo (the ‘Cyclist’s Church’) after winning the Giro last month

Nicole Cook could already be regarded as Britain’s best ever cyclist. On Sunday she lines up her first Olympic road race and she could make the podium in Athens in three cycling events. So here’s a few things you might not know about her…

When she was seven she fell off her bike and fractured her skull.

Nicole won a record 32 Schools titles at all cycling events between 1994 and 1998, apart from Speedway and BMX.

In 1998 and 1999 she took a clean sweep of all the youth track championships setting records in all disciplines along the way. She was also Road, Mountain and Time Trial National Youth Champion.

In 1999 she became the youngest ever British Senior Road Race champion, she was only 15.

At the tender age of 16 she was considered too young to travel to Sydney for the Olympics, so she went and won the 2000 World Junior Road Race instead, she still had two years before she became a senior.

2001 was another record year, Nicole became the first cyclist to win World titles in three different disciplines. She took the Gold medal at the World Junior Road Race in Lisbon, then the World Junior Time Trial in Lisbon and switching code completely she also won the World Junior Mountain Bike Race in Colorado.

In 2002 she returned to the UK to win the Elite Road Race title once more. Then she made light work of the Commonwealth Games Road Race too.

In 2004 Nicole had keyhole surgery on her knee. The season started badly. She couldn’t race until the British National Championships in July. Which she won, easily. So what bad knee?

She is the only British rider to win a top ranked continental national tour, the 2004 Giro Donne.

She drives a VW Beetle.

Got a question for Nicole?