The only GP riders in action of late have been Joe, Lawny and Slim. Hope to have some reports through from them in the not too distant future... roll on spring.
Made by DeFeet exclusively for Meo GP, our Sprezzatura team socks are this seasons must have item. Available in black for training and white for racing, the Meo GP logo features on one side of the 3" cuff and the mascot of the GP, the White Horse on the other side.
Sprezzatura is an old Italian word which translates as the art of doing a difficult task so gracefully, that it looks effortless.
Magic atmosphere at the final stage of the Giro d'Italia on Sunday, a 15km time trial around the streets of Verona. No surprise that the loudest cheers were reserved for the maglia rosa Ivan Basso as he sped down the start ramp. Basso is a rock star in Italy and looked every bit the part. Italians sure know how to turn on the style...
You might of noticed the new sponsor logo on the right-hand navigation bar of the site. Well it's now official, La Gazzetta Della Bici, one of the finest cycling blogs on the planet is a sponsor of the Meo GP team!
La Gazzetta is run out of the UK by Simon Lamb and as mentioned before on the GP site, Simon's passion for cycling is second to none...
"The winner of Blog of the Year is a slam dunk. It's La Gazzetta Della Bici. No, please don't mistake it for the Italian pink newspaper. It has nothing to do with it. Rather, it's similar to what the Cycling Art Blog does, but in a heightened and more frequent way. The photos and videos are extraordinary and you'll find them there first before anywhere else. A bonus is its refined appreciation of style (what many refer to as PRO). It is pure pleasure, an often twice-daily piece of chocolate for the mind. RSS it and enjoy." Competitive Cyclist
The GP has been involved as a tester of the soon to be released range of Gazzetta massage oils and embrocations. Amazing products that prepare muscles for racing and aid recovery. The results speak for themselves with two podium finishes at the recent national club champs, ROSSO oil works brilliantly.
On behalf of the Meo GP team, welcome aboard Simon.
There's been plenty of racing highlights this season with top performances by GP team members at local, national and international events. Some of the standout performances over the past nine months...
Now that it's the off season, there'll be more coffee time at the end of rides and a well earned period of rest to freshen up for next season. That's all except JC, who is still in full on training mode, preparing for the Tour of China (July) and Slim who is in the early stages of his racing season in Italia.
Just found some really good photos of Meo GP riders taken by Adrian Rumney at the PNP 4 Peaks race held on Saturday 27 March. Representing the GP at this event were Silas Cullen (top), Jono Hales (middle) and Tom Finlay (bottom)...
Raymond Poulidor is famous in cycling circles as the eternal second because he finished the Tour de France in second place, three times. Despite Poulidor's consistency he never wore the yellow jersey during his long and illustrious career. His tours coincided with that of Jacques Anquetil on the front end and Eddy Merckx on the back end. Two greats of the sport.
Over the past few days at the NZ National Club Road Championships, Meo GP riders stood on the second step of the podium three times. Lawny, competing in the Masters 2 race was second to Lee Johnstone on Saturday morning. Then in the afternoon Backy was second to Dave Rowlands in the Masters 1 race and today Joe was second to Gordon McCauley in the Senior Mens event.
And that's not the end of the story... a txt message came through from Slim this evening, "Ray here, 2nd, but broke both my legs off."
Great racing and a lot of fun had by all, but Ray wasn't far away from our thoughts.
Other GP riders in the results....
- Silas, finished 10th in the Senior mens race, a good result considering he raced without inner soles in his shoes after accidentally leaving them back in Wellington.
- Kirky, who now lives in Timaru finished 7th in the Masters 5 event.
- Glenno, who despite having his new Elite bottle cages installed upside down (and a bottle of Pinot the night before) finished 7th in the Masters 4 race.
- Jono, after his first season of competitive cycling finished 14th in the Masters 3 race. Great stuff.
Ideal conditions for racing at the Wellington road champs held out in Whiteman's Valley today. A full race report to follow soon, but for now enjoy the photo's and read Ben Christian's race report over at RoadCycling.co.nz
David Meo - Davis (Assistant Director). Reportedly the best amateur climber in Wellington. Always appears to be running late and does not understand the meaning of an easy ride. Always pressures the Communications Officer to bring the start earlier.
David Barnett - Guiseppe, Barney, Stonker. Recapturing the form that gave him the KOM title in the Dulux Tour over 20 years ago by undertaking a weight loss regime tougher than Jenny Craig's. Has a new goal of being the first GP rider to achieve the Bronze Cadence Club level at Lake Taupo fun ride after failure to capture the King of the Funrider title in 2008. Usually found in Capital Cycles, but now contemplating a career change to male hairdresser to match the new champagne coloured SAAB convertible.
Jonathan Hales - Jono. Attended high school with Davis but was required to upgrade to Cervelo and BMC to be allowed to ride. Breaches code of conduct by refusing to burn Wellington Harriers singlet and by putting Backy out of action for six weeks last year by taking him running.
Jeffrey Healey - Jeff. Works in IT at HP, backing up the 'solutions' that Glenno provides to unwitting customers. Uses a Garmin GPS unit, which comes in very handy when Glenno is off his leash.
Ian Kirkman - Kirky (Head of Research - HOR). Also known as 'Mr Map' after demonstrating superior navigation skills on the GP Europe trip. Only accepted into GP after giving up post ride samosas and starting to drink coffee. Now based in Timaru.
Craig Lawn - Lawny. Current Masters 1 NZ Road Champ to go along with his MTB title. Prefers to go from the gun and never ease up. This tends to result in a team time trial session for those who go with him. Davis and Backy are favourite breakaway partners. Just married, so that should slow him down.
Glenn Owen – Rabid Dog, Bronwyn, Glenno. Often seen running free on Lyall Bay Beach. Usually attends the start of the ride but not seen again until the coffee stop. Provides interference for Antosh’s commentary. Rides an out of fashion Colnago. Claims to work as “A Solutions Provider”.
Tom Paulin. Has a year round tan that rivals George Hamilton. In the running for Wellington Bachelor of the Year award - Tom would like us to point out that it was his 'friends' that entered him into the competition. Reminds me of a Tui ad.
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