Nicole was second in the 7th Round of the World Cup - La Coupe du Monde Cycliste Féminine de Montréal - maintaining her overall lead in the World Cup Series.

Judith Arndt took maximum points on the day just winning a two up sprint with Nicole, and the German rider is now 49 points behind in second place on the overall standings.

Nicole heads to Canada later for this week for round 7 of the World Cup series in Montreal. Whilst Nicole has been preparing to defend her World Cup leaders jersey her Univega-Raleigh-Lifeforce team mates have continued to collect victories for the squad.

Priska Doppman won 2 stages, the green jersey and finished fourth overall in the Tour de l'Aude. Sprinter Joane Kiesanowski also won a stage in the 10 day French race. Meanwhile Karin Thürig won the Ironman Triathlon in Lanzarote.

In a change to Nicole's original racing plan for 2006 she's opted for a training week instead of the Tour de l'Aude in France. Having taken the lead in the World Cup series with recent wins in Spain and Belgium she's know preparing for round 7 in Canada later this month. Nicole's Schedule.

Nicole has increased her lead in the World Cup to 74 points after winning the Castilla y Leon race in Spain.

She has now won 2 out of the 6 races so far in the 12 race series.