 Cooke is closing on a second World Cup title |
Wales' Nicole Cooke finished third at the Grand Prix de Plouay to extend her World Cup series lead to 153 points. Nicole Brandli (Bigla Cycling Team) won the event by 32 seconds after attacking mid race and opening a big lead.
Giorgia Bronzini (AS Team FRW) took the bunch sprint from Cooke, whose closest series rival Judith Arndt suffered a puncture and collected no points.
The penultimate round of the series is in Rotterdam (3 Sept) with the double point finale in Nurnberg (10 Sept).
Cooke will seal the title in the Netherlands if her rivals are unable to reduce her lead below 150 points.
"I'm happy with the way things worked out although it wasn't another victory," Cooke told her official website.
"The team were magnificent again, we know the overall victory is very close."
World Cup standings:
1. Nicole Cooke (GB) 389 points
2. Judith Arndt (Ger) 236 pts
3. Susanne Ljungskog (Swe) 221 pts
4. Annette Beutler (Swi) 187 pts
5. Oenone Wood (Aus) 170 pts
Remaining World Cup rounds:
Rotterdam Tour, Holland (3 September)
Rund um die Nurnberger Altstadt, Germany (10 September)
E-mail this to a friend 
Printable version 