Emma Pooley: Completely Wrong

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The Women's Senior Elite Road Race Championships, Holland

Interviewing a competitor directly after an event is a bit like interviewing a drunk person. They can be tired, emotional, even vomiting – I've seen combinations of all three. And as with drunks, their behaviour is either as close to the core of their personality as its possible to get, or they're one of those people that has a feral flare up.

Emma Pooley has given a handful of very forthright interviews recently. This is hardly out of character; she's bright and in coming to the sport late, she has a unique talent for exposing the ridiculous; seemingly fearless that to question the status quo might cause the fragile world of women's sports sponsorship to come crashing down around her ears. Perhaps it's her comparatively late arrival to the peloton, but she always has a dose of reality for the reader. She's pleased to ride her bike, but she'd like a bit more recognition for the sport.

It was with a lump in my throat, then, that I watched her post-Worlds interview, straight off the road and into the control tent. Unable to chase Marianne Vos as she broke, she was clearly upset. She said that she felt disappointed with her season. But then she went further:

“I didn't do a good job today … I had really good support from the girls … I just didn't have the jump to go with [Vos] … it was my job to go and then I couldn't … It's not just disappointing … I was a disappointment today… sorry about that … I've let them down … a bit of a shame really.”

I can only hope that Pooley is one of those drunks that tells you you're the love of their lives and then cries a bit, though I suspect this isn't the case. This interview was probably Pooley being the sporting equivalent of a candid drunk. If that's the case, and this is really what Pooley thinks of herself and her season, then we need to stage an intervention. The kind you do on a night out, when your tearful post-breakup chum has had a few too many white wine spritzers and is grinding on That Awful Bloke. You grab them, shake them, give them a bottle of water and a tenner for the journey, then escort them to a taxi with strict instructions to their housemate to make sure they fall asleep on their front.

This piece, Emma, is the intervention.

Grab: As an athlete, it's fair enough to be disappointed with your own season. All elite competitors have fairly set goals. Though I'd have to disagree with her estimation: Pooley has had a season that 90% of the peloton would trade bodyparts for. Overall winner of Tour de l'Ardèche, second in the Giro, first in the mountains classification; Armitstead's mainstay in the Olympic Road Race. Every competitor has their off seasons too, which brings me to ...

Shake: I'd find it hard to keep training and winning with the spectre of unemployment looming large. It's been two teams in two years for Pooley – both Garmin and AA Drink folded, and at super inconvenient times. And all whilst Britain's men are treated to the flashest set-up this side of a Mariah Carey tour. Most female cyclists don't have the luxury of having an off-year; for the majority it's perform or go home and there's only so much you can be treated like the ugly little sister, before you start to feel like her. There's been no sense of stability in a year that had huge expectations of the British women's road team. Let's remember that at least on the Olympic front they delivered on a shoestring and the men, with Papa Sky bankrolling Dave 'Dumbledore' Brailsford's five-year plan, did not.*

It's not just the money. I always feel sorry for the athletes who compete at a time when there's a lass as dominant as Vos tearing up the field. Every so often, you get someone with almost superhuman powers, and the 'Little Fox', Vosje, is one of them. But Pooley can and does beat Vos, and in her efforts to bridge the gap to the flying Dutchwoman, she's playing a massive part in increasing the depth of talent in the women's field. In order to beat Vos, you have to play a blinder. Any part of the master-plan failing means you sometimes come in fifteenth, or fortieth and not second. Running Vos close carries no shame, and the rivalry is exciting.

Tenner: Here's the freebie. You, Emma Pooley, do not get to decide whether you have disappointed this year. You can have your own feelings about how the season panned out, but we – the fans – get to decide whether you've done your job, entertained, made us proud. I was lucky enough to have tickets for the Olympic Road Race, and Pooley should be able to dine out on that performance alone. Throughout the year, in the Giro, in the time trials, in the World Cup events, she's been a joy to watch. Always a pest, always a contender. That day on Box Hill marked when women's cycling truly arrived in the national consciousness. Pooley's darting attacks, robust tactical appraisal of the field and no-nonsense self-sacrifice was one of the most exhilarating and touching moments of the games. Watching her climb gives a thrill equal to Pantani in his pomp, if not better for the knowledge that Pooley isn't dosed up to the eyeballs.

Taxi: Pooley probably needs a holiday. To put the bike in the cupboard under the stairs, to step away for a few weeks. Eat a pie, get a tan. Someone should sign her – they'd be mad not to, a keen sense of tactics, a consummate time-trialler and talented climber with a level head to boot. Then she can get back to the business of springing away up the inclines in that jaunty fashion of hers; pushing the women's field on; banging the drum for Amnesty and equality and doing what she always does – laying it on the line. Cycling is one of those rare, romantic sports where not just the winners are admired. Those that race with heart are well loved too. Emma Pooley, British Cycling may not care a dime for you, but we do. Keep riding!

*Don't get me started on the Tour – we're doing like-for-like comparisons here.

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