Scooter News Vespa LX 150 World Cycling Champions Choose Vespa
Piaggio Australia What does the world's No. 1 women's cycling team put on its wish list when it heads Down Under for a two-month training camp? A Vespa LX150, of course.
After an overture from the Swiss-based Raleigh Lifeforce Creation Pro Cycling Team late last year, Vespa Australia has now handed over a brand new LX150, which will be used to fine-tune the fast femmes for the opening round of the UCI Women's Road Cycling World Cup in Geelong (Vic) on March 3.
"I would like to thank Vespa Australia for helping us out," said team manager Thomas Campana. "We will be working very hard while we are in Australia, and the LX150 will be covering at least 100km a day in pace training. That's pretty big mileage, and we required a reliable scooter to get the job done. The LX150 fits that bill perfectly."
"Australia is an ideal place to train at this time of the year, especially as the conditions in Europe are so cold. We hope that this two-month block of training will set us up for another huge year."
The Raleigh Lifeforce Creation Pro Cycling Team has just come off a towering 2006, which saw it end the year as the No. 1 women's World Cup outfit, as well as claiming individual honours with British rider Nicole Cooke.
Moreover, in the Salzburg-hosted 2006 world championship, Raleigh teamsters finished from second to fifth in the individual time trial, while Cooke and Priska Doppmann were third and fifth respectively in the road race.
In 2004, Raleigh's Swiss rider Karin Thurig was third in the Athens Olympics individual time trial.
There are 14 riders on Raleigh's 2007 roster, including 33-year-old Australian Emma Rickards. The Melbourne rider has already started 2007 with a rush after finishing third in the Australian Open Road Championships in Ballarat (Vic) on January 13.
Rickards will now be hoping to become the fifth Australian to win the local round of the UCI World Cup, and the first since Rochelle Gilmore in 2005.
The Vespa LX150 is a designer scooter for those who want a stylish, avant-garde form of transport. It houses a powerful and economical 150cc four-stroke, environmentally friendly Euro 3 compliant engine, and also features electric start, an automatic transmission, large underseat storage, a fuel gauge, an anti-theft electronic key immobiliser, classic Vespa all-steel body, front disc brake, alloy wheels and a two-year unlimited kilometre warranty. It retails for $6745 (plus ORC).
There is also a 125cc version of the LX, available for $5990 (plus ORC).
published 8/02/2007 |