Cooke given new bike for Beijing

Nicole Cooke delighted with her new bike for Beijing

Nicole Cooke has been supplied with a new bike especially for the Beijing Olympics next month.

The Welsh medal contender heads to China armed with the state-of-the-art bike combining full carbon fibre frame and race-ready specification.

Cooke's Halfords and Great Britain team-mate Sharon Laws will also receive the new bike.

"I'm really looking forward to putting it through its paces in training and racing," said Cooke.

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"It's really great and feels very light. Just from initial riding you can tell the geometry is perfect, and it handles beautifully.''

Four years ago in Athens 25-year-old Cooke came a very creditable fifth in the women's road race and 19th in the women's road time trial.

Chris Boardman, creator of the Boardman bikes range, said: "We wanted to give Nicole and Sharon something extra special for the road race in Beijing.''