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Raise Your Game: How much hard work goes into a performance like today?

Emma Pooley: People in the crowd only see the day of the race, but there are many hours of training involved. You spend the winter training as well as racing and training in the summer.

I'm a professional rider now. It's a full time job and I train like it's a job. I train up to 35 hours a week. It is hard and you have to make it hurt occasionally, but I love it. I love cycling and I'm happy that it's my job.

RYG: Would you say it's more about attitude or talent?

EP: You have to have the innate physiology. You have to have a good VO2 max and good lungs. I'm sure there's a lot of luck involved as well. You want to say thank you to your parents for turning out this way. Let's just say I'm vertically challenged (laughs), but in the end it's not such a bad thing because it means I'm better at climbing, but you've got to work quite hard as well.

RYG: What advice would you give to all vertically challenged young ladies, and young men, looking to follow in your footsteps?

EP: Cycling is not a height discriminatory sport. There are tall people and some really small people who are successful in cycling. The only tricky thing is finding a bike to fit, but it is possible. They make bikes in my size and you don't come much shorter than me!

RYG: What keeps you motivated and coming back for more?

EP: Winning is fantastic. It's an amazing high, but it doesn't happen very often so it has to be more than that. You have to genuinely enjoy cycling, the training and racing with your team because it's like being with a group of friends. Even if you're racing for someone else and helping them win, it's really satisfying and exciting. You feel proud when you've done a good job.

It's literally like a job. Some days your job is to work extremely hard. You know that you'll get dropped when the going gets tough, but that's just part of the game. However, it's good as long as a team mate wins. I've got some very nice team mates so that makes me happy.