La Vie Velominatus

Portrait of a Hardwoman: Nicole Cooke

Nicole Cooke on the Kapelmuur
Nicole Cooke on the Kapelmuur, Rule #37 violation notwithstanding.

Cycling is hard; I’m not leaking any trade secrets with that statement, but it feels good to say it anyway. No Cyclist avoids suffering, but of those who venture into our world, there are some who seek to limit it while others choose to embrace it. Then we have a handful of characters who consider playing Whack-a-Mole with the Man with the Hammer to be good sport, particularly when playing the part of Mole.

In the current climate, it’s impossible not to consider the impact doping has on our sport. I, for one, have happily watched professional bike racing and delighted in the spectacle for close to thirty years, aware to varying degrees that doping is part and parcel of that spectacle I enjoy so much. In the last decade, I’ve gone so far as to assume most – if not all – riders are doping; a regrettable situation but one which has done little to temper my enthusiasm for the sport. After all, when all the riders are doing it, then surely what we’re watching is a level playing field of willing participants who understand how the game is played. Cheaters cheating cheaters hardly seems like cheating.

It’s all beautifully romantic so long as all the riders are doping. This is not the case, however; there are those who are racing clean against dopers. These riders are truly being cheated out of a livelihood by a culture which not only turns a blind eye to cheating, but who ostracize those who don’t. These riders who refuse to dope have few voices and last week, the sport lost one of the most forward of these with the retirement of Nicole Cooke.

Nicole has been a force in Women’s Cycling since turning Pro in 2002. A powerful rouleur, she excelled in every terrain and in any race format, but was nigh unbeatable in uphill finishes, taking a total of three La Fléche Wallonne Féminine titles, each of which required such a large laying of The V that it brought her to collapse. I was aware of her as much as anyone can be with the state of the coverage of Women’s Cycling, but she became one of my favorite riders after reading a piece in Rouleur about my favorite hub manufacturer, Royce. In the article, Royce’s Cliff Polton described being at a trade show when a young girl better described as a ball of loosely-contained energy bounded up on his booth and started asking about bottom bracket axles and wondering aloud if he could help her achieve her goal of becoming the wolds most dominant female cyclist.

Given what I understand of her personality, I get the feeling it was more like executing a plan than achieving a goal.

Cooke raced at the top of her sport for thirteen years; she scaled the heights of achievement with wins in every major race on the calendar including the Ronde van Vlaanderen voor Vrouwen, La Fleche, the Giro d’Italia Femminile and Grand Boucle (women’s Tour de France), the Olympic Road Race, and the World Championship Road Race. What’s more, she accomplished it while remaining staunchly anti-doping to the point that she faced sackings for refusing doping products.

Anyone who is a fan of Cycling should read Nicole’s retirement statement – I could never do it justice here. My personal hopes for the Pharmstrong Legacy is that it yields a a blood letting in the UCI and that the energy it spends on covering up its own corruption goes instead into promoting Women’s Cycling.

I’m sad to see Nicole go. Yet, for a rider who thrived in the hardest conditions and who unyieldingly stuck to her principles, I find it very fitting that the final two wins of her career came in Stages V of the Giro Femminile and Energiewacht Tour, respectively. Bravo, Nicole.

Here is the finale of her last Giro stage win:

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187 Replies to “Portrait of a Hardwoman: Nicole Cooke”

  1. @eightzero

    @frank

    Speaking of sport, its so easy to rile you up on this, it nearly takes the fun out of it.

    Nearly, but not quite.

    If we didn’t have this on the interwebs, all we’d have is skateboarding cats. Since I can’t pedal a bike worth a Merckx damn, I have to find some place to turn a pedal in anger.

    I’m not arguing whether to like her or not, I’m arguing your premise. I think its a misconception that everyone on wallstreet is so wealthy they can retire at 25 or whatever she is and not have to worry about money again.

    In fact, my experience is that the more money you make, the more beholden you are to your job and the more you come to rely on have that level of income or more.

    Where you see a spoiled kid, I see a girl who had a comfortable life and gave it up to go work a hell of a lot harder for a hell of a lot less money, with a hell of a lot less security – especially with the state of women’s cycling.

    That isn’t how she markets hereself. When I read Nikki Cooke’s piece, I hear about how a kid sacrified the most important part of her life to compete. To that I say “wow.” When I read a recent piece about Evie, she said (a reasonable direct quote) “I don’t feel bad about coming in second in the TT to [Kristen Armstrong]. She’s had 4 years to prepare (yeah, by having a kid-ed) and 4 years ago I was behind a desk [on wall street].” To that I repeat: boo hoo. And all those people that came in 3rd and lower? Nice way to dismiss their effort, honey.

    I admire that kind of risk-taking; it makes me like her all the more.

    Seems to me the vast majority of wall street bankers are pretty good with taking huge risks with other people’s money. Their job, as they see it, it to maximize their gain and shift losses to their “clients.” Gordon Gekko would have fit right in the peloton. Screw ’em. So Evie has a truckload of bikes and gear paid for by the sale of Blue Star Airlines and Teldar Paper stock transactions. Good on them.

    One of the reasons I gave up on the cycling shit sandwich scene was if you had a job you’d always get humped by people who didn’t; had more time to train and could mysteriously afford better kit and travel.

  2. @the Engine

    @eightzero

    @frank

    Speaking of sport, its so easy to rile you up on this, it nearly takes the fun out of it.

    Nearly, but not quite.

    If we didn’t have this on the interwebs, all we’d have is skateboarding cats. Since I can’t pedal a bike worth a Merckx damn, I have to find some place to turn a pedal in anger.

    I’m not arguing whether to like her or not, I’m arguing your premise. I think its a misconception that everyone on wallstreet is so wealthy they can retire at 25 or whatever she is and not have to worry about money again.

    In fact, my experience is that the more money you make, the more beholden you are to your job and the more you come to rely on have that level of income or more.

    Where you see a spoiled kid, I see a girl who had a comfortable life and gave it up to go work a hell of a lot harder for a hell of a lot less money, with a hell of a lot less security – especially with the state of women’s cycling.

    That isn’t how she markets hereself. When I read Nikki Cooke’s piece, I hear about how a kid sacrified the most important part of her life to compete. To that I say “wow.” When I read a recent piece about Evie, she said (a reasonable direct quote) “I don’t feel bad about coming in second in the TT to [Kristen Armstrong]. She’s had 4 years to prepare (yeah, by having a kid-ed) and 4 years ago I was behind a desk [on wall street].” To that I repeat: boo hoo. And all those people that came in 3rd and lower? Nice way to dismiss their effort, honey.

    I admire that kind of risk-taking; it makes me like her all the more.

    Seems to me the vast majority of wall street bankers are pretty good with taking huge risks with other people’s money. Their job, as they see it, it to maximize their gain and shift losses to their “clients.” Gordon Gekko would have fit right in the peloton. Screw ’em. So Evie has a truckload of bikes and gear paid for by the sale of Blue Star Airlines and Teldar Paper stock transactions. Good on them.

    One of the reasons I gave up on the Cycling Shit Sandwich scene was if you had a job you’d always get humped by people who didn’t; had more time to train and could mysteriously afford better kit and travel.

    Really? Those were the deciding factors? The reasons I never started on that sport was because it took me less than one second to realize it was less awesome than just Cycling.

  3. @eightzero

    “Seems to me the vast majority of wall street bankers are pretty good with taking huge risks with other people’s money. Their job, as they see it, it to maximize their gain and shift losses to their “clients””

    Seems to me you dont have the faintest fucking idea of what you are talking about. What type of a banker are you describing with that massive generalization?

    Sounds to me like you may have watched too many movies.

  4. @frank

    @the Engine

    @eightzero

    @frank

    Speaking of sport, its so easy to rile you up on this, it nearly takes the fun out of it.

    Nearly, but not quite.

    If we didn’t have this on the interwebs, all we’d have is skateboarding cats. Since I can’t pedal a bike worth a Merckx damn, I have to find some place to turn a pedal in anger.

    I’m not arguing whether to like her or not, I’m arguing your premise. I think its a misconception that everyone on wallstreet is so wealthy they can retire at 25 or whatever she is and not have to worry about money again.

    In fact, my experience is that the more money you make, the more beholden you are to your job and the more you come to rely on have that level of income or more.

    Where you see a spoiled kid, I see a girl who had a comfortable life and gave it up to go work a hell of a lot harder for a hell of a lot less money, with a hell of a lot less security – especially with the state of women’s cycling.

    That isn’t how she markets hereself. When I read Nikki Cooke’s piece, I hear about how a kid sacrified the most important part of her life to compete. To that I say “wow.” When I read a recent piece about Evie, she said (a reasonable direct quote) “I don’t feel bad about coming in second in the TT to [Kristen Armstrong]. She’s had 4 years to prepare (yeah, by having a kid-ed) and 4 years ago I was behind a desk [on wall street].” To that I repeat: boo hoo. And all those people that came in 3rd and lower? Nice way to dismiss their effort, honey.

    I admire that kind of risk-taking; it makes me like her all the more.

    Seems to me the vast majority of wall street bankers are pretty good with taking huge risks with other people’s money. Their job, as they see it, it to maximize their gain and shift losses to their “clients.” Gordon Gekko would have fit right in the peloton. Screw ’em. So Evie has a truckload of bikes and gear paid for by the sale of Blue Star Airlines and Teldar Paper stock transactions. Good on them.

    One of the reasons I gave up on the Cycling Shit Sandwich scene was if you had a job you’d always get humped by people who didn’t; had more time to train and could mysteriously afford better kit and travel.

    Really? Those were the deciding factors? The reasons I never started on that sport was because it took me less than one second to realize it was less awesome than just Cycling.

    In my defence our coach was the first person in Scotland to do the Imperial Century in less than four hours on a Kestrel with Campag discs circa 1986 and we started a tri-club because there were no cycling clubs in town.

  5. @Marcus

    @eightzero

    “Seems to me the vast majority of wall street bankers are pretty good with taking huge risks with other people’s money. Their job, as they see it, it to maximize their gain and shift losses to their “clients””

    Seems to me you dont have the faintest fucking idea of what you are talking about. What type of a banker are you describing with that massive generalization?

    Sounds to me like you may have watched too many movies.

    I think he said he was talking about Wall Street bankers.

    I have no opinions on individual athletes or individual bankers–everybody’s got their story, and nobody has put me in charge of karma, as far as I know. But when–in the U.S.–you nullify a decades-old boundary between savings banks and investment banks and then tell all the banks that, whatever they decide to do in the pursuit of short-term profits, hey, no worries, the U.S. taxpayer has their well-padded asses covered, what do you think they’re going to get good at?

    /politics off/

    Sorry.

  6. @PeakInTwoYears yeah yeah – wall street is a place. It doesn’t describe a type of banker – what was referred to in that sweeping generalization above seemed to describe some sort of make-believe trader who could pass losses onto clients.

    Anyhoo, will stop – off topic and not very interesting.

  7. @the Engine

    @frank

    Really? Those were the deciding factors? The reasons I never started on that sport was because it took me less than one second to realize it was less awesome than just Cycling.

    In my defence our coach was the first person in Scotland to do the Imperial Century in less than four hours on a Kestrel with Campag discs circa 1986 and we started a tri-club because there were no cycling clubs in town.

    Scots will do anything after a few wee drams.

  8. Is it true that a “wee dram” equals 1.25 ounces? I read that recently somewhere, but I wondered to what extent it was true in practice.

    (Swimming? If you haven’t had your ship sunk by the enemy?)

  9. A wee dram is properly two fingers – the top of the pointer to the bottom of the pinkie. If we are talking single malt that is…

  11. So how do we (male cyclists specifically) show support besides watching (online in my case) and the VSP?  Can you buy a Spesh-Lulu t-shirt?  Something that shows up in the finances perhaps?

  12. @DerHoggz

    So how do we (male cyclists specifically) show support besides watching (online in my case) and the VSP? Can you buy a Spesh-Lulu t-shirt? Something that shows up in the finances perhaps?

    You hit on the head. I want that kit, WTF?

  13. Watched Stage 2 of the TDU last night and WTF? 116km? A rolling course with a short tough climb at the end but certainly not mountainous. Too much of that shit and the sponsors will be taking their money to the women’s events and it’ll be the men who are asking for parity.

    Early bid for 2013 Anti-V Moment of the year from the TDU organisers.

  15. @frank

    @Yannersan

    It’s sad that she felt the need to retire at such a relatively young age, I hope she doesn’t make a comeback when it is too late.

    I remember watching the Beijing road race and the amount of ground she lost after loosing her line in the final bend, to lay down The V and win the sprint in horrendous conditions was just brilliant. A true hardwoman’s finish.

    Her rivalry with Armistead probably hurt both of them; who would select either knowing that they may not work for the team and think primarily of themselves?

    Didn’t she talk about that being a calculated risk? She hung back and went wide, giving anyone who crashed in front of her enough room to slide out without taking her down with them. She figured catching up from a crash would be harder than from leaving a gap.

    Good plan when you have the guns to close it back down. Awesome, awesome race. Her win in the Worlds was similarly brilliant. She was on the wheel of the rider in front of her and as Vos came by, she was all over it. Brilliant riding.

    She may have talked about it being a calculated risk but, with my own eyes, she didn’t mean to go that wide and give the opposition that much lead.

    She, along with the other pro’s, remembers things differently to the way us normal folk remember them, they have selective amnesia inbuilt whereas we tend to recall the bad things, the pain, the near misses and the crashes.  I’m not saying this is a bad thing, it’s just different, after all we have a different reason for riding than they do.

  16. @Chris you are aware it’s the first race of the season no? You expect them to be completing GT style stages at the end of January, but still be racing those same type of stages in May, July & September?

    One thing you’ll notice is that the teams have brought their Classics squads out here as they are the ones that need actual race tuning to be ready in the next couple of months…why wouldn’t they organisers then produce stages that are suited to those racers?

  17. @Mikael Liddy First race of the season? I was wondering why there hadn’t been much racing on TV.

    I’m not expecting them to riding 250km stages, especially in that sort of heat but I’d like to sit down and watch something that moves me and resembles competition.

    I know it’s a stage race rather than a one day classic but if I was preparing for the Milan San Remo, I’d want something with a bit more than 2 hours 44 minutes on the bike.

  18. @Dan_R

    Us

    Canadians like Italy. The future Mrs. Richter number 3. Out front laying The V.

    Alright, completely sexist comment of the day but MAN, women cyclists are HOT!

    Okay, I feel better, back to work.

  19. @Buck Rogers

    @Dan_R

    Us

    Canadians like Italy. The future Mrs. Richter number 3. Out front laying The V.

    Alright, completely sexist comment of the day but MAN, women cyclists are HOT!

    Okay, I feel better, back to work.

    One of the reasons that Hell Hath No Fury is one of my favorite Sufferfest videos.

  20. @Marcus

    @PeakInTwoYears yeah yeah – wall street is a place. It doesn’t describe a type of banker – what was referred to in that sweeping generalization above seemed to describe some sort of make-believe trader who could pass losses onto clients.

    Anyhoo, will stop – off topic and not very interesting.

    You mean these guys?

  21. @seemunkee

    @Buck Rogers

    @Dan_R

    Us

    Canadians like Italy. The future Mrs. Richter number 3. Out front laying The V.

    Alright, completely sexist comment of the day but MAN, women cyclists are HOT!

    Okay, I feel better, back to work.

    One of the reasons that Hell Hath No Fury is one of my favorite Sufferfest videos.

    I do not have that.  I will have to get that one for when I am blessed by The Docs That Be to return to riding.  I wonder if I can trade any of my old WCP COTHO tdf DVD’sfor it?

  23. @frank

    @Marcus

    @PeakInTwoYears yeah yeah – wall street is a place. It doesn’t describe a type of banker – what was referred to in that sweeping generalization above seemed to describe some sort of make-believe trader who could pass losses onto clients.

    Anyhoo, will stop – off topic and not very interesting.

    You mean these guys?

    That is gold.

  24. @DerHoggz

    So how do we (male cyclists specifically) show support besides watching (online in my case) and the VSP? Can you buy a Spesh-Lulu t-shirt? Something that shows up in the finances perhaps?

    That’s a very good question. I have no clue. I suppose one thing would be to wander into a Lulu store and asking the clerks about the team and asking what we can do.

    @the Engine

    @Dan_R – We’re always talking single malt – plus steak and waffles of course

    Presumably served together?

  25. @Chris

    I know it’s a stage race rather than a one day classic but if I was preparing for the Milan San Remo, I’d want something with a bit more than 2 hours 44 minutes on the bike.

    That’s what Tirreno-Adriatico is for.

  26. @Chris you clearly haven’t seen the TDU too often. That stage marked a departure from previous years where pretty much all but one stage was a sprint-fest.

    So I guess by your thinking previous years have been even more anti-V?

  27. @Marcus

    @Chris you clearly haven’t seen the TDU too often. That stage marked a departure from previous years where pretty much all but one stage was a sprint-fest.

    So I guess by your thinking previous years have been even more anti-V?

    Yeah but fortunately the organizers were smart enough to pay the COTHO gazillions of dollars over the past few years to try to add interest to the world’s most boring pro cycling race.  Money obviously well spent, eh? 

    No wonder it is run in January when there is fuck-all other racing worth watching or else it would have been a one-off race.

    Bring on MSR!

  28. @Buck Rogers really? The TDU got great value from Armstrong. He boosted the race both here and elsewhere.

    Whilst the race certainly doesn’t have the cols or cobbles I think it has it’s place as a season opener with a bit of spark.

    I think the TDU at least has the Tour of Qatar beat on the boredom front.

  29. Oh yes and I am sure there would be a really positive reaction from the pros if there were a few 250k 4000m ascent stages.

    watch the Willunga stage. You might enjoy it

  30. @Marcus

    @Buck Rogers really? The TDU got great value from Armstrong. He boosted the race both here and elsewhere.

    Whilst the race certainly doesn’t have the cols or cobbles I think it has it’s place as a season opener with a bit of spark.

    I think the TDU at least has the Tour of Qatar beat on the boredom front.

    Ah yes, the Tour of Qatar.  Well if we are comparing the ugliest two races on the pro circuit, yeah, it’s a toss up between the two.  Both fuckin boring beyond belief.  And I have watched the Willunga Stage the past few years and it beats watching rerun WCP DVD’s, but not by much.

    Actually I am just sooo bored at work right now I wondered how easy it would be to set anyone off.  Not too hard I guess.

  31. @Marcus word.  Id rather watch paint dry before Qatar.  I can commend them for pumping that kind of money into the race, but goodness gracious it is horribly bland.

  32. Are you forgetting the Tour of Beijng? The only reason that race isn’t ‘boring’ is the comical amount of pollution the riders have to deal with. The TDU is pretty entertaining, and since it’s one of, what, 1 fucking pro tour race in the southern hemisphere, you all can get fucked. Snow bound cabin fever suffering northern monkeys.

    There may be more than one pro tour race in the south but I can’t think of it.

  33. @minion

    Are you forgetting the Tour of Beijng? The only reason that race isn’t ‘boring’ is the comical amount of pollution the riders have to deal with. The TDU is pretty entertaining, and since it’s one of, what, 1 fucking pro tour race in the southern hemisphere, you all can get fucked. Snow bound cabin fever suffering northern monkeys.

    There may be more than one pro tour race in the south but I can’t think of it.

    There’s that one in Argentina that Cavendouche is doing…

  34. @minion

    Are you forgetting the Tour of Beijng? The only reason that race isn’t ‘boring’ is the comical amount of pollution the riders have to deal with. The TDU is pretty entertaining, and since it’s one of, what, 1 fucking pro tour race in the southern hemisphere, you all can get fucked. Snow bound cabin fever suffering northern monkeys.

    Hest stroke?

  35. @gaswepass

    @minion

    Are you forgetting the Tour of Beijng? The only reason that race isn’t ‘boring’ is the comical amount of pollution the riders have to deal with. The TDU is pretty entertaining, and since it’s one of, what, 1 fucking pro tour race in the southern hemisphere, you all can get fucked. Snow bound cabin fever suffering northern monkeys.

    Hest stroke?

    make that, er, heat stroke. not sure what hest stroke is, albeit y’all i’m sure have some sheep related malady to give it life as a phrase…

  36. TDU? Qatar?  Season opener?  The season opener is Het Volk, or Gent-Gent.  No I am not calling it by its new name.  Moving on.

  41. @Tobin

    I think I just channelled Jacob Two-Two…

    Always funny to see other parents here.  I’m sure there are quite a few around here that don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about. I do………..

  42. @scaler911

    @Tobin

    I think I just channelled Jacob Two-Two…

    Always funny to see other parents here. I’m sure there are quite a few around here that don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about. I do………..

    IDK, but the two of y’all talking about a male figure in a tutu, well, kinda non-news…

  43. @minion for once i agree with you.

    @the Engine
    that Tour de San Luis is just a shitty little 2.1 race. TDU is a World Tour race – which is what Minion meant when he said Protour (because he is simple).

    Not sure what the rest of you ignorant pasty-skinned fat turds living in your fucked little snowcaves define as an interesting race? Maybe it needs a fucking Zamboni to get you interested.

    So far, the TDU has had one sprint finish (ok not that exciting, but they usually occur in stage races!), a stage with a devilish but short climb 6k from the finish and a wicked descent (oh yes, for you UK fucksticks, your boy Thomas raced out of his skin and there was a wickedly good crash to boot), and then a finish with pretty hard uphill sprint finish that saw a young gun (Slagter) get the jump on a couple of ok riders called Goss and Gilbert who came 2 and 3.

    What the fuck more do you want from a fucking bike race in January you ungrateful cunts?

    Maybe we should wait for that outstanding 2.1 race the Tour of Britain? Haven’t there been some fucking epic rides through drab scenery in the rain there? Or maybe we should wait for the Tour of Cali – which has a few interesting climbs but is most famous for the worst set of winners jerseys in the known world.

    Maybe you wish you had a ride at 6am this morning in weather of 28 degrees celsius. I did.

  46. @Marcus

    @minion for once i agree with you.

    @the Engine
    that Tour de San Luis is just a shitty little 2.1 race. TDU is a World Tour race – which is what Minion meant when he said Protour (because he is simple).

    Not sure what the rest of you ignorant pasty-skinned fat turds living in your fucked little snowcaves define as an interesting race? Maybe it needs a fucking Zamboni to get you interested.

    So far, the TDU has had one sprint finish (ok not that exciting, but they usually occur in stage races!), a stage with a devilish but short climb 6k from the finish and a wicked descent (oh yes, for you UK fucksticks, your boy Thomas raced out of his skin and there was a wickedly good crash to boot), and then a finish with pretty hard uphill sprint finish that saw a young gun (Slagter) get the jump on a couple of ok riders called Goss and Gilbert who came 2 and 3.

    What the fuck more do you want from a fucking bike race in January you ungrateful cunts?

    Maybe we should wait for that outstanding 2.1 race the Tour of Britain? Haven’t there been some fucking epic rides through drab scenery in the rain there? Or maybe we should wait for the Tour of Cali – which has a few interesting climbs but is most famous for the worst set of winners jerseys in the known world.

    Maybe you wish you had a ride at 6am this morning in weather of 28 degrees celsius. I did.

    You seem a bit tense man. All that heat and shit burning to the ground fuckin’ with the sheep supply? Don’t lump us all in one basket. The TDU isn’t The Ronde (or Tirreno) but it’s racing! About f’n time I might add.

  49. @Marcus I feel like the TDU critics don’t appreciate the serious Rule #9 conditions of South Australia in January. I suppose they could up the stakes by moving it to FNQ and making them race in ~36C 100% humidity with the occasional cyclone.

  50. @Marcus

    Not sure what the rest of you ignorant pasty-skinned fat turds living in your fucked little snowcaves define as an interesting race? Maybe it needs a fucking Zamboni to get you interested.

    (edited rants of a wanted sheep rapist)

    Maybe you wish you had a ride at 6am this morning in weather of 28 degrees celsius. I did.

    My snowcave was 27C today but had the advantage of being on the proper side of the equator and in a land that isn’t famous for animals that failed in every other climate.  Oh yeah, and large marsupials.

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