A smiling Emma Pooley on the top step of a World Cup race (Image credit: WomensCycling.net)
By Susan Westemeyer
Emma Pooley of the Swiss Team Specialized Designs for Women was more than thrilled to win her first World Cup race, even if she was having doubts the next day as to whether it really happened. "I still can't quite believe it, I suspected I might wake up in the morning and it's all been a dream!" she told Cyclingnews. "Unexpected wins are the best and when it happens to be a World Cup race, that's even better."
Explaining how it happened, she said that when two riders got away on the climb, "I bridged across to them, but the bunch caught us again fairly soon. I thought another attack was bound to go so I pre-empted it and somehow ended up on my own. It was too early to go it alone really, but I thought I might as well keep riding – if I got caught then there would be others from my team who could cover the attacks and get into the breaks. And probably if it hadn't been foolishly early I wouldn't have been able to get away."
The win gave the 25 year-old the leader's jersey in the World Cup and she is prepared to fight for it. "We're now looking forward to Vlaanderen and the other World Cup races even more! Having the leader's jersey will be very special, if a little scary too. I think we can make a good effort to defend it, the team is strong this year and we're really well-motivated."
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