Baden Cooke (born 12 October 1978) is an Australian retired professional racing cyclist, who competed professionally between 2000 and 2013.
Early life Born in Benalla, Victoria, Cooke began competitive cycling at 11. He completed secondary school at Galen College in Wangaratta, Victoria, and was an Australian Institute of Sport scholarship holder.AIS Athletes at the Olympics
Career His professional career began with the Mercury team in 2000, though he found racing in Europe to be more challenging than initially expected. Nevertheless, he adapted. He was more successful during that debut season in Australia and America, where he won stages of the Herald Sun Tour and the Sea Otter Classic, respectively. Having moved to the French team Française des Jeux in 2002, Cooke competed in the Commonwealth Games that year, finishing third behind fellow Australians Stuart O'Grady and Cadel Evans. He also participated in the Tour de France in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2008 and 2012. In 2003 he won the Green jersey which is the Points classification in the Tour de France by two points in a tight finish on Stage 20 on the Champs-Élysées with fellow Australian sprinter Robbie McEwen second and O'Grady seventh in the final points classification. In 2004 Cooke came 12th in the points classification.
Cooke represented Australia in the road race at the 2004 Summer Olympics along with McEwen, Michael Rogers, O'Grady and Matt White.
Cooke raced 2006 and 2007 for Unibet.com. He joined Barloworld for 2008 but in 2009 moved to Dutch cycling team Vacansoleil. Cooke announced on his website that he would ride for Team Saxo Bank in 2010 – he continued with that team in 2011, before moving to the new team for the 2012 season. After the 2013 season, Cooke retired.
After retiring, Cooke announced that he was moving into rider management. In January 2014 he became the agent of former team-mate and winner of the 2013 Vuelta a España Chris Horner. He subsequently also became agent for Michael Matthews, Gert Steegmans and Janez Brajkovič.
He recently purchased a stake in Factor Bikes and Black Inc wheels.
Television appearances In 2021, Cooke competed on Australian Survivor: Brains V Brawn.
Career highlights Major results
1996 1st National Junior Points Race Championships 1st Bendigo Tour 1st Criterium Bike SA Race 2000 1st Wangaratta Wheelrace 1st National Madison Championships 1st Prix de Bles d'Or Rapport Tour 1st Points classification 1st Stage 7 Herald Sun Tour 1st Stages 2, 5 & 9 1st Criterium competition
2001 Tour de l'Avenir 1st Points classification 1st Stages 6 & 10 1st Stage 4 Sea Otter Classic 2002 1st Overall Herald Sun Tour 1st Stages 2 & 4 1st Overall Paris–Corrèze 1st Stages 1 1st Dwars door Vlaanderen 1st Tro-Bro Léon 1st Stage 1 GP du Midi Libre 1st Stage 8 Circuit des Mines 3rd Road race, Commonwealth Games 3rd GP Ouest France-Plouay 5th Paris–Brussels 9th Road race, UCI Road World Championships 2003 1st Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen 1st Grand Prix de Fourmies Tour de France 1st Points classification 1st Stage 2 Tour Down Under 1st Stages 1 & 4 1st Stage 9 Tour de Suisse 1st Stage 3 Tour Méditerranéen 2nd Dwars door Vlaanderen 4th Paris–Tours 7th Paris–Bourges 2004 1st Overall Bay Classic Series 1st Grand Prix d'Ouverture La Marseillaise Herald Sun Tour 1st Stages 2, 3 & 5 Tour Méditerranéen 1st Stages 1 & 3 1st Stage 2 Three Days of De Panne 3rd Overall Tour Down Under 1st Stage 6 2005 Herald Sun Tour 1st Stages 4 & 5 1st Stage 1 Tour of Poland 5th Dwars door Vlaanderen 6th Gent–Wevelgem 2006 1st Grand Prix d'Ouverture La Marseillaise 1st Halle–Ingooigem 1st Stage 1 Course de la Paix 1st Stage 5 Tour de Wallonie 5th Overall Tour of Denmark 6th Paris–Tours 10th E3 Prijs Vlaanderen 2007 1st Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen 1st Stage 3 Tour Down Under 1st Stage 2 Étoile de Bessèges 4th Paris–Brussels 6th Omloop Het Volk 8th Gent–Wevelgem 2008 1st Stage 2 Clásica Internacional de Alcobendas y Villalba 1st Stage 1 Geelong Bay Classic Series 1st Stage 3 Herald Sun Tour 2009 1st Stage 4 Herald Sun Tour 2010 1st Stage 4 Bay Classic Series 2011 2nd Paris–Bourges 5th Dwars door Vlaanderen 10th Gent–Wevelgem
Grand Tour general classification results timeline
Grand Tour 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 Giro d'Italia———DNF————DNF——— Tour de France127140139142——DNF———117— / Vuelta a España———————————DNF
+ LegendDSQ DisqualifiedDNF Did not finish
References
External links
Australian Cycling Federation profile
Baden Cooke's profile at Cycling Base