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).
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.
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contact:
Mark Fattore
Marketing Manager
PS Importers
20 Stubbs Street
Kensington, Vic 3031
Tel: + 61 (0)3 9381 9733
Mobile: + 61 (0)417 557 204
Fax: + 61 (0)3 9381 9798
Email: mark@psimporters.com.au
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