02/12/2004 Nicole Cooke at Revolution 6 after Entente Cordiale between Britain and France Nicole will race on the track in Manchester at Revolution 6 on December 4th. It will be the first time the event has a featured a womens race. "Its great to have a women's race at an event like Revolution." says Nicole, "even if it is only one, it's a good start." Nicole was a multiple youth track champion before concentrating on her road career. "I'm really looking forward to getting in there and being competitive on the track again, it's going to be pretty tough race though with the field that's there." Meanwhile final details of Nicole's Safi Pasta Zara team for next year are currently being completed and we'll have more soon. Nicole recently took part in the Paris to London race to celebrate the Entente Cordial Centenary. ENTENTE CORDIALE 1904 - 2004 A few weeks ago I was invited to take part in the Paris-London ride to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Entente Cordiale between Britain and France. Given that the racing season had finished I decided it was an experience not to be missed. On Saturday as the sun was rising over the Eiffel Tower, coaches and lorries parked up and 300 cyclists, half British half French, started assembling bikes and preparing for the start. We would be riding 80km neutral from Paris to Mouy with Police escort, stopping for refreshments and then "racing" 80km from Mouy to Amiens. There was a wide range of participants from racing cyclists with Laurent Jalabert and current pro Eric Leblacher of France, myself and Yvonne McGregor (Olympic Medalist now retired from racing) to the touring cyclists who have taken part in the Etape du Tour and other Granfondo equivalent events. Riding out of Paris in a massive peloton of 300 riders with all the support vehicles and motor-bike escorts was incredible. Passing the famous landmarks of Paris on closed roads really was a great way to have a 'guided tour' and something different to having to race through various cities or areas when I miss the all the scenery because I am concentrating on the racing! After our refreshment stop there was the 'race' stage in the afternoon. This was talked down but secretly there seemed to be a large proportion of the riders just itching to attack and get stuck into someracing! The pace was very high from the start, and the demanding terrain with short climbs and cross winds really made for a hard race. The front group split with about 15km to go on a very exposed road with strong cross-winds and I came in 5th, 20 seconds behind the winner Emmanuel Clerico (France). We were looked after very well, and once everyone had changed and packed up their bikes, we drove to our hotel at Calais where we would be staying the night before catching the Ferry on Sunday morning. All 300 riders ate together and medals were handed out to each of the articipants to remember the event. PARIS TO LONDON OCTOBER 2004 It was an early start on sunday morning, and once all the coaches were loaded up we set off to the port to catch our ferry to Dover. On the English side on the channel we were greeted with some drizzly weather but we signed on to David Duffield's enthusiastic commentary and then took the start with Jean-Marie Leblanc keeping a watchful eye from out of the sun-roof of the lead car! Given the wet conditions and poor visibility the 'race' did not start until 20km into the stage but like Saturday the racing was very exciting with lots of riders attacking and trying to get away. I managed to glance back once and saw the long string of riders stretching back from a roundabout: An amazing sight! There were lots of spectators on the roadside cheering us on and I think they experienced something very special. At the front of the race 2 riders finished ahead of my small group and after a hotly contested sprint into Rochester with some very technical corners in the last few kilometres. Nicole Cooke to Paris under Eiffel Tower