Pooley solos to World Cup win

Emma Pooley (Garmin-Cervelo) soloed to victory at the Trofeo Alfredo Binda race in Italy to become the first leader of the 2011 Women’s World Cup series.

Pooley dislikes the rain but excels on the hilly course in Italy. And just like in 2009, she took off a long way from the finish and managed to hold off the rest of the peloton to take another hugely prestigious win.

She dominated the race in a manner which would have pleased legendary Italian campione Alfredo Binda, who the race is named after and who was born in the Cittiglio, where the race is organised.

Pooley attacked after 52km of racing and then time trialed the remaining 69km of hilly racing to win alone. She had plenty of time to celebrate her win at the finish and show off her British national champion’s jersey.

“I prepared well during the winter in Australia and I’m in good shape now,” Pooley explained before pulling on the World Cup leader’s jersey.

The tough course and the rain meant only 80 of the 160 starters finished the race, with the rest of the field spread across 11 minutes.

Pooley scored 75 World Cup points for her win and so leads Johansson by 25 points. The next race in the nine-race series is the Ronde van Vlaanderen on April 3 on the cobbles and steep climbs of Belgium.

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