Emma Pooley returned to full-time bike racing this year, having taken time out to complete her studies and also compete in triathlons in 2013. And her aggressive riding style has come to the fore since then, repeatedly trying to escape the bunch at the Women’s Tour and at the Emakumeen Euskal Bira which has followed.
Her strength – as proved by three stage wins, Tour de Languedoc Roussillon success and Tour de Feminin-O cenu Ceskeho Svycarska in the few races she did last year – has made her a marked woman. But if she adopts a similarly aggressive style at the national road race, she will be a difficult rider to hold back. Keen to avoid a sprint finish, Pooley proved exactly that in 2010 when she attacked late in the race to end Nicole Cooke’s nine-year reign as national champion.
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