MBWales - Nicole Cooke rains supreme

If there's one thing that growing up riding in Wales teaches you, it's how to cope with rain. A point admirably proved by the British women's road race team of Nicole Cooke, Emma Pooley and Sharon Laws as they worked together in absolutely torrential conditions in China this Sunday. All the effort paid off superbly though as they  launched Nicole to Gold medal victory on the crucial final climb up to the Great Wall finish, Cooke leading from the front ahead of Emma Johansson (Sweden) and Tatiano Guderzo (Italy).

The fact that Nicole used to divide her racing between off road and on (she was junior World MTB champion in 2001) would also have been a great advantage on a course where some competitors said they were "almost drowning" in places.

There are full race reports at www.bikeradar.com and elsewhere and you'll no doubt be able to find plenty of clips of Cooke's ecstatic victory scream too. For now though, congratulations to Nicole from everyone here at MBWales.com for both her win and inspiring us to pull on our gear and get out there whatever the weather. After all while courses everywhere else are turning into the Somme (was anyone else at SITS this weekend?) the Welsh trails are still running fine, because - like Nicole - our trailbuilders know how to cope with a bit of wet without dampening their fun.

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