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POOLEY'S 'SPECIAL' HANDLEBARS HELP HER POWER TO SILVER

Wednesday, 13 August 2008
Alasdair Fotheringham
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Emma Pooley revealed that one key reason for her time trialling silver medal in Beijing was using specially-designed handlebars that allowed her to replicate her road-racing position.

“Just after the track World Cup last December I was out here with Dan [Hunt, women’s coach] and Doug [Dailey, logisitics manager] in the cold and snow.” Pooley said. “I thought that’s a hard hill. I said that if I'd been on my road-bike, I’d be on the hoods a lot of the time.” Pooley explained.

“So we then thought about riding and designing a time trial bike with hoods, so it was like a road-bike. It’s not as aerodynamic, but if you can put more power down, then it’s worth doing it.”

“Then I got back here and nobody else had dodgy handlebars and then I thought, oh heck, maybe I’d better change back.”

But by then Pooley was commited and the policy paid off. “I had my gears on the hoods, and I think actually that was the right choice because then I could imagine I was in a road race and off the front.”

Asked if in layman’s terms it meant she could maximise her power, she reponded, “in layman’s terms it means you can go a lot faster! If you’re less aerodymanic, but you can go faster because you’re more comfortable, then it’s worth doing it.”

Pooley's also radically changed her time trial position, in conjunction with Hunt and Chris Boardman.

"We've worked hard on my position," she said. "Look at photos of me from previous world championships, and I wasn't very aerodynamic. It's hard at my height to find a bike that fits. Dan and Chris worked on it and it's made a huge improvement."