Scooter News Vespa LX 150 Vespa lends a hand in opening World Cup triumph
Piaggio Australia After two months of rigorous pace training behind Vespa Australia's avant-garde LX150 scooter, the world's No. 1 women's cycling team has kickstarted 2007 with a resounding victory in Geelong (Vic) on March 3.
Led by gifted 23-year-old Welsh rider Nicole Cooke, the Swiss-based Raleigh Lifeforce Creation outfit began its World Cup defence in ominous form, upstaging the competition with five of its six riders finishing in the top 20 after eight laps of the tough 15km circuit.
Cooke, last year's individual World Cup champion, held off Australians Oenone Wood and Nikki Egyed in a thrilling sprint finish to claim maximum points, while Joanne Kiesanowski was the second Raleigh rider home in sixth. Cooke also won the three-day Geelong Tour warm-up event from February 27 until March 1.
"I think the way it all panned out in the World Cup, holding off the bunch, beating such a fantastic sprinter in Oenone Wood, it was one of the most fantastic wins of my career," said Cooke. "As victories go, it was incredible."
Melbourne's Emma Rickards, the only Australian on the Raleigh roster, finished in 10th position, continuing the great form which saw her secure third position in the Australian Open Road Championships in Ballarat (Vic) on January 13.
After only ad-hoc pace training during past visits to Australia, the four-stroke LX150 formed the backbone of Raleigh's training regime this time out, with team manager Thomas Campana predominantly at the controls of the Vespa as the mileage crept towards 100km a day.
"After such an intense period of training, we were all in such good form at Geelong," said Priska Doppman, who completed the 120km World Cup in 19th, just in arrears of teammate Sarah Duster. "The LX150 was perfect for us - powerful, economical and, above all, reliable. It has certainly set us up for another big year, and the result in Geelong was proof that we are already in the groove."
The second leg of the nine-round World Cup will be held in Belgium on April 8. Cooke is a 25pt (75 to 50) leader over Wood in the individual standings, while Raleigh goes into round two holding sway by 33pts (113 to 80) in the teams' classification.
The Vespa LX150 is a designer scooter for those who want a stylish 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).
The Piaggio company, nestled in the Tuscan countryside between Florence and Pisa, first invented scooters in 1946 when they produced the first ever Vespa and helped liberate a war-torn Italy. Vespa remains the iconic scooter brand with its unique metal bodied design. Today Piaggio continues to produce scooters under the classic Vespa brand, the sporty Gilera brand and the contemporary Piaggio brand. In Australia, PS Importers is the sole importer of this iconic and popular range.
published 14/03/2007 |