23/04/03  Just 3 days after becoming the first British rider to win a World Cup race Nicole repeated the feet.

She won Flèche Wallonne ahead of Sue Palmar-Komar, the rider she beat into second place in the Commonwealth Games Road Race 2002.

Nicole's late counter attack on the brutal Mur de Huy not only took her to the top step on the podium for the second succesive race, it also catapulted her to the top of the overall world cup standings. (see here)

Defending Champion Fabiana Luperini clearly fancied retaining the title with her 2002 Aurora RSM team making the early running and keeping the pace high.

The real action though started on the last couple of climbs. Lyne Bessette, Nicole Brandli and Svetlana Boubnenkova were amongst those trying to break away, with highly placed World Cup challenger Mirjam Melchers and Zinaida Stahurskaya doing much of the chasing whilst Nicole conserved her energy.

Nicole's team were also actively policing the bunch for her, Zita Urbonaite chasing down Luisa Taminini who broke away on the descent.

On the penultimate climb Nicole attacked and quickly got a gap. She was then joined by Luperini again before they were caught, with Taminini making another bid to escape on the descent and getting 100 metres.

Boubnenkova was the first to make chase, with Germany's Judith Arndt then driving the other main contenders back up to the leading pair with 1 kilometre and the notorious Mur de Huy to go.

Nicole began to put down the hammer on the last short sharp climb and got a substantial gap on the steepest part of the Mur with 500 metres to go.

For a moment it looked as though she'd misjudged the move as Sue Palmer-Komar caught her on the final sharp bend.

However Nicole rode away again from the Candian to win by 4 seconds.

After crossing the line she couldn't speak for several minutes, but once recovered made a point of thanking all her team mates

The victory puts Nicole top of the overall World Cup standings, and could force a change of plan for the remainder of the season.

The World Cup title hadn't been one of her objectives for the season, but with the next race in Montreal likely to suit her there may well be a shift of emphasis.

A decision will be made over the coming days, and you'll hear about it here.

"It's the worst feeling I've ever had!"

"I'm absolutely ecstatic to have won two world cup races in a row, but when I crossed the line I was completely drained"

"When I reached the final hairpin bend there was 100m further to go than I thought. I could barely lift one hand off the bar to celebrate, and I couldn't feel my legs at all!"

"I have to thank my team for this win today. They were fantastic, working really hard for me, doing everything they could"

"In the early part of the race I just sat in the wheels and let the other contenders do the work."

"Then when it came to the penultimate climb I was feeling really good so I attacked and got the gap. I thought I could shell a few people out the back."

"When Taminini went the second time it was (Judith) Arndt that pulled it back together. She just got on the front and did her motorbike thing!."

"When we approached the Mur I thought Lyne Bessette looked the strongest of the others so I took her wheel before making my move"

"To begin with I took it steady, keeping it in a small gear for the climb, then jumped for the gap"

"I went too early, I misjudged how far it was from the final hairpin to the finish. But when Sue got back up I didn't really attack again, I just rode away from her"

"It's an unbeleivable feeling, but I knew the weekend before Amstel that I had the form to win both races."

"We may have to change my shedule now, we'll see. We'll think about Montreal and Plouay and make a decision whether we rethink my objective for the season"