[3] He completed secondary school at Galen College in Wangaratta, Victoria, and was an Australian Institute of Sport scholarship holder.

[4] His professional career began with the Mercury team in 2000, though he found racing in Europe to be more challenging than initially expected.

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.

[3] 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.

Cooke represented Australia in the road race at the 2004 Summer Olympics along with McEwen, Michael Rogers, O'Grady and Matt White.