A fresh start for Joe

2011 is shaping up nicely for JC. For the full story head on over to Joe's blog. Check out the smile after taking home the White Horse award for 2010...

Christmas Party

Plenty of Christmas cheer at the GP end of year lunch at Scopa yesterday.

Apart from all the usual banter there was the serious business of presenting the White Horse award for 2010. The White Horse went to JC for his outstanding ride at the Tour of Southland this year. Joe won the King of the Mountains classification and took a stage win to boot. Not only that, Joe won the Tour of New Caledonia for a second successive year. Exciting times for the young fella as next year Joe will be riding for a team in France. He will be on the start line at the Tour de Vineyards and Trusthouse Cycle Classic early in the New Year before heading to Europe in February.

As 2010 draws to a close we would like to acknowledge the support of our amazing sponsors: Rocket Espresso Milano, Caffe L'affare, Ricoh, Armstrong Prestige, J Tomlinson & Co and La Gazzetta Della Bici.

And we'll be looking smart in the New Year in our new GP Racing Team t-shirts courtesy of Rocket Espresso, L'affare and Ricoh. Check these out...

Rice Mountain Classic

Hot, hot, hot best describes the racing at the Rice Mountain Classic held in the Wairarapa yesterday. A field of over 100 riders were on the start line to test their climbing legs at Wellington's premier one day road race.

Great to see the very pro looking Pure Black team in town, the new Wheelworks team, riders from the Hawkes Bay and a top womens field.

Full results should be up on the PNP website very soon. Be sure to check out the great set of action shots by Adrian Rumney on Flickr too.

1989 Tour de France

Nice photo set by Benjamin Werner on Flickr capturing the mood before the infamous final stage of the 1989 Tour.

"In 1989, I was young, I liked cycling and the Tour de France was still much more innocent and fascinating than today. On the last day, Laurent Fignon and Greg Lemond were going to fight for the final victory on the last stage. I suddenly decided to go to Versailles; it was not very crowded and I could enter the starting area. Here are some pictures from that day." Benjamin Werner

Parting thoughts

Reflecting on the weekend while waiting in Christchurch airport for the flight home to Wellington.

Armstrong Festival of Cycling

Thrilling racing, stunning weather and top results by some of the GP team made for a great weekend away at the Armstrong Festival of Cycling held in Christchurch over the weekend.

JC continued his streak of fine form to take a hard-fought second place in a 2up sprint with Hayden Roulston at the Long Bays Classic on Saturday.

On the first major climb of the day (Gebbies Pass) Joe broke away with Roulston and Subway Avanti team mate Michael Vink. Once the leading trio had established a gap, Vink counter-attacked allowing Joe to sit on Hayden for a few kilometers before the final climb up Evans Pass.

On Evans Joe attacked several times, but Roulston ever attentive, never let him out of his sights and they crested the top together for the 8km flat run into the finish. With 750m to go Joe attacked out of the final hairpin corner, however Roulston anticipated well again, jumping on and sprinting past to take the win.

Davis put in a storming ride for 21st place. Tucked into the next group on the road behind Roulston, Joe, Vink and Yates, Davis was vying for a top ten result. Not known for his sprinting prowess, Davis finished in the middle of the group with Pure Black team leader Glen Chadwick taking the sprint for 5th. Backy finished 35th dropping off the pace on the final climb up Evans.

In the recreational event Jono sped in for 31st place, less than 30 seconds behind the winner, Ben Longworth. Next to finish was Kirky in 44th place, followed by Tom, 57th (dropped chain on Evans) and Rick, 72nd.

A superbly organised event, everyone agreed that they would be back for another crack next year. Huge thanks to Rick Armstrong, who kindly invited the GP team down.



On Sunday morning we headed out early for a ride up Dyers Pass and along Summit Road, a good hangover cure for sure. If ever in Christchurch be sure to ride this loop – see map above. Plenty of climbing and the views from the top are breathtaking. Joe and James Williamson led the way, taking it easy on us as they were both racing at the criterium later in the day.

Carnival atmosphere at the inner city centre criterium with celebrity tandem and support events throughout the day, culminating with the mens elite criterium. Great to watch some of New Zealand's best cyclists turn it on around the tight street circuit. Intense racing with an average speed of 44km/h for winner Mike Northey who narrowly won from Tom Scully in a close sprint. Criterium photos below.

GP Oakley Jawbones

The boys will be looking sharp this summer. Very soon they'll be sporting a new summer clothing range from Champion Systems and custom Oakley Jawbones.

The new clothing range will debut at the Armstrong Festival of Cycling on December 4.

Joe cleans up KOM at Tour of Southland

Great to see JC win the King of the Mountains classification at the Tour of Southland yesterday. A dominant performance by Joe, scoring twice as many points as his nearest rival, George Bennett (52 vs 26) who finished second in the final KOM standings.

Joe steadily built an unassailable lead by initiating or joining the main breaks of the race. If there had been a title for most aggressive rider, Joe would of ranked highly as he spent many kilometers at the front of the race in his quest to secure the jersey.

HTC professional Hayden Roulston narrowly took the overall title by two seconds from former Wellington bike courier Jack Bauer. See cyclingnews.com for detailed results.

JC wins stage at Tour of Southland!

Brilliant display of power riding by Joe to win stage three and take the King of the Mountains classification jersey at the Tour of Southland yesterday. Joe was very active during the early part of the stage in a break with Subway Avanti team mate James Williamson. Joe dropped back to the main peloton and took the Otama hill climb, bided his time and then attacked off the front with Bevan Mason near the end of the stage. Coming out of the last corner Joe accelerated away from Mason and took his first ever Tour of Southland stage win.

Joe crashed heavily on day one of the tour during the Bluff Hill stage. His GC hopes disappeared, but he is now very motivated to secure the KOM jersey during the six day tour.

See the official Tour of Southland website for the latest results as they come to hand.


The decisive attack.


Joe wins stage three comfortably from Bevan Mason.

A new rain record?

Wellington must be odds on favourite to win the dubious title of wettest main centre of the year again, surely?

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.

Meo GP 'Sprezzatura' Socks

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.



Sprezzatura socks are available to purchase from Capital Cycles or online via PayPal below. Click here for a size chart in PDF format. If you need to contact the GP team regarding your order, send an email to meogp@slingshot.co.nz

Colour - Size - Price

Black - M $20.00 Black - L $20.00 Black - XL $20.00 White - M $20.00 White - L $20.00 White - XL $20.00

Giro d'Italia

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...

New GP sponsor, La Gazzetta Della Bici

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.

End of Season Wrap

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...

• Joe winning the overall at the Tour of New Caledonia

• Joe's win at the Kapiti Cycle Challenge

• National Senior Road Champs, Joe 2nd

• National Masters One Road Champs, Backy 2nd

• National Masters Two Road Champs, Lawny 2nd

• Rice Mountain Classic, Silas 3rd

• Wellington Senior Road Champs, Backy 2nd, Lawny 3rd, Silas 5th

• Masters Time Trial Champs, Backy 1st

• Capital Cycles Wellington Veterans Club 2 day tour, Backy 1st, Davis 2nd.

Racing is only part of the story as there's been a lot of laughs had out training, socialising, traveling and taking the piss out of each other.



The GP is very fortunate to have support from the following sponsors:

• Rocket Espresso Milano, manufacturers of the finest handmade domestic espresso machines in the world.

• Capital Cycles, fantastic service, backup and support from Paul, Shane, Olenka and the team.

• Ricoh, the leading global manufacturer of office automation equipment. 

• The Immigrant's Son espresso, James (head roaster) roasts the finest espresso beans in town.

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)...







And here's a few of Kieran (KT) in action at the Armstrong Festival of Cycling from December last year. KT finished 4th in an exciting sprint finish...






Photos courtesy of RoadCycling.co.nz

A Tale of Four Ray's

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.

Wellington Road Champs

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

Bikes of the GP – Wilier Cento Uno

We've seen Slim's Wilier, a special bike that has a nice story behind it. Well, there's another Wilier on the GP team, but this one was purchased through regular channels at the GP bike shop of choice, Capital Cycles. It's a Wilier Cento Uno 'Cunego Edition' frame built up with Campy Super Record and other components, all of which you'll see in the video below.

Lampre (and Damiano Cunego) are using the Superleggera version of this frame for 2010.

Flanders & Paris-Roubaix Week

Ask any professional cyclist which one day race they would dearly love to win above all others and it would likely be one of the following two answers, Tour of Flanders or Paris-Roubaix.

For cycling fans the next seven days are a real treat as the Tour of Flanders is on tomorrow evening (NZ time) and the Queen of the Classics, Paris-Roubaix the following Sunday.

Be sure to check La Gazzetta Della Bici as Simon has posted some nice imagery from previous editions of Flanders like this photo of the peloton racing through the snow.  

Whit at Pavé has put together an excellent preview of Flanders with a detailed rundown of all the hot contenders. Lets hope that kiwi's Greg Henderson and Hayden Roulston have good rides too.

Two riders who were favourites, but won't be on the start line at Flanders are Italian champion Filippo Pozzato (sent home with the flu) and Heinrich Haussler (lingering knee injury). You've got to feel for Haussler as he built his whole season around Flanders. The disappointment is clear for all to see in the latest Cervelo Test Team video...

Meanwhile in the Land of Milk and Honey...

Fears over the White Horse's safety during the Assistant Directors recent visit to the land of milk and honey were put to rest after the image below came to light.

Rumours of bribery and kidnapping prompted the resistance movement into action, whisking the white beauty underground during the Assistant Directors brief stay.

The Director reports that the White Horse is in good condition with a renewed vigor in his stride since returning from the ordeal.

It ain't all glamour in the good land though... Slim has been working hard to put food on the table of late.


Photo by David LaChapelle

The Sweet Taste of Victory

Sprezzatura is an old Italian word for being able to do your craft without a lot of visible effort. It's a combination of elan and grace and class, sort of the opposite of loud grunts while you play tennis. Or in the case of a professional cyclist, letting your legs do the talking and winning bike races. All the while looking like you've just been out for a casual Sunday spin to the local cafe as you cross the finish line, preferably alone.

Yesterday at the Kapiti Cycle Challenge, Joseph Cooper (JC) demonstrated why he is one of the best hill climbers in the country, taking all three hill climb primes and the race win to boot. And this was the day after finishing a solid 4th at Le Race in support of Subway Avanti team mates Michael Vink and Gordon McCauley.

One look at the course profile below (green line) clearly illustrates why the Kapiti race is tailor made for climbers. A classic route used for many years at the Rice Mountain Classic before it was deemed too dangerous on the often narrow, open roads and one too many close calls with oncoming cars.


The race features three major climbs, Paekak (13km), Haywards (33km) and the Akatarawa climb, where the riders are effectively climbing from the 55km point through to 74km.

Departing Waikanae, the race was stopped in its tracks immediately by a northbound train, reminiscent of 2006 Paris Roubaix.

Underway again and aided by a northerly tailwind the race sped through to the base of Paekakariki Hill. Many riders were fighting for position, all wanting to be at the front for the lead in to the steep ascent creating chaos in the peloton.

Michael Naylor hit the bottom of the climb at near full gas and the race quickly went from a big mass of riders to a long thin line. The pace settled through the middle part of the climb before the speed ramped up again, Silas attacking towards the top with Backy taking over the tempo for the later part. 150 metres out from the summit Joe launched a searing attack to take the hill prime.



Onto the long descent a group of 5 riders, namely Joe, Silas, Backy, Michael Naylor and Finlay Brazier quickly established and shared the pace making. As Haywards approached Finlay was dropped, while Capital Cycles sponsored rider, Andy Hagan put in a big chase effort to bridge across on the Haywards climb.

This group worked well together and stayed intact through the Akatarawa's until approximately 25km from the finish where Joe made his move. After patiently biding his time, JC attacked from the back of the group on a short, sharp climb called 'pig hill'. He was never to be seen again.

A brief chase effort ensued from behind, but it was in vain as Joe rode away into the distance. The remaining quartet crested the top of the Akatarawa's together, but split apart on the technical descent into Waikanae. Michael Naylor crashed, but quickly remounted, while Silas utilised his freshly honed MTB descending skills to ride away.

Joe had a comfortable 2:30 gap to Silas at the finish, Andy pipped Michael for 3rd and Backy took 5th place. Lawny, not quite on his normal game after breaking a couple of ribs at the National MTB race a few weeks earlier was 6th.

Other GP riders in the results: Jono (28th – 2nd, 45-54 age group), Jeff (50th), Glenno (69th).

A really well run event, the GP boys will be back in force next year, thanks Kapiti.

Also, a huge thanks to Gary Nesbit (Nesport Photography) for kindly allowing the GP to use his superb race photos. Gary seemed to be everywhere on the course yesterday taking shots at the start, Paekakariki, the Aka's descent and on the finish line. To see more of Gary's sharp photography skills check out his website. Prints are available to buy online too.

Ben and Sarah from roadcycling.co.nz have posted a story on how the race unfolded on their website, check it out here.

GP dominates Aka's Race

A beautiful win by Subway Avanti/Meo GP rider Joe Cooper today at the Kapiti Cycle Challenge. Joe showed his class by riding away from his four breakaway companions through the Akatarawas, crossing the finish line two and a half minutes clear of fellow GP rider, Silas Cullen.

Silas rode away from Andy Hagan (Capital Cycles), Mike Naylor and Backy on the technical descent into Waikanae.

Only yesterday, Joe was competing at Le Race, where he finished a fine 4th. Joe's Subway Avanti team mate Michael Vink, won Le Race in a new record time... a young talent to keep an eye on in the future.

Other GP riders in the results: Jono (28th), Jeff (50th), Glenno (69th).

More photos and a race report to follow tomorrow.

Friends of the GP

La Gazzetta Della Bici is a blog run by Simon Lamb out of the UK. Simon has a fine eye for cycle related porn in all it's various guises. Competitive Cyclist sums up La Gazzetta Della Bici perfectly...

"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."

Simon has been very supportive of the Meo GP, often posting GP articles and photos on La Gazzetta. Be sure to check out La Gazzetta Della Bici and follow Simon on Twitter.



Pavé is a blog site operated by Whit Yost, a former assistant director sportif with Mercury-Viatel amongst other things. Whit shares his experiences and views on the professional peloton at Pavé and also writes a regular column on Embrocation Magazine.

An interesting and insightful read, make sure you bookmark Pavé for your regular digest of the professional racing scene.

Coming Soon... GP Rider Profiles

Every GP rider has a story to tell... stories that we'll be posting by way of regular rider profiles over the coming months. David Barnett (known as Guiseppe, Barney or Stonker to his mates) is the first rider to be profiled and has some great photos and racing experiences to share. Pictured above during stage 5 of the 1984 Giro d'Abruzzo, David raced in Italy during the 1984 and 1985 seasons. The highlight being 14th overall at the 1984 Giro d'Italia.

More of David's story to follow soon...

Racing update

There's plenty of racing on the Wellington racing calendar at the moment, all ideal preparation for riders heading up to the club road nationals at the end of April. Meo GP riders will be competing at the nationals so we have been getting in amongst it at the local events.

The first race in the Wellington Cup series was held on the Miramar circuit on Sunday 7 March. A technical 12km loop with a few rollers, 1km power climb, tricky descent and a flat sprint finish – something for everyone. 6 laps, totaling 72km for both A and B grade.

The GP was represented by Lovers, Jono (B grade), JC and Backy (A grade). For a more detailed report of the A grade race see Joe's report over on www.joecooper.me

Some of the other GP boys were at the event including Tom, who was marshaling and sounding a bit worse for wear after a big night of units (boozing). And Barney made an appearance to witness the fast finish of his new boss, Lovers. His first racing appearance of the year, Lovers turned on his customary turn of speed to take out B grade...



Unfortunately Jono punctured for the second race in a row and is now looking at a pair of these for his Boras. In the A grade race, Backy jumped clear to win by a few lengths from Dave Rowlands, JC and Andy Hagan...



Backy raced the Masters National 40km Time Trial championships on Sunday. He had a good day to secure the fastest time of 56:00 on the rolling course near Masterton in the Wairarapa.



This coming Saturday JC will be in action at Le Race in Christchurch, followed by a quick plane trip home to line up for Sunday's Kapiti Cycle Challenge with the other GP boys. The Kapiti race includes the Paekakariki hill climb and the Aka's. We'll need our climbing legs on for sure.

GP Team Issue Water Bottles

Hot off the production line, GP team issue water bottles are now available to purchase from Capital Cycles, 135 Victoria St or The Immigrant's Son roastery, 10 Elizabeth St, Mount Victoria.

Featuring a prominent GP logo and associated sponsor logos, the bottle has a 400ml capacity with an orange rubberised grip for non slip handling – a handy feature when your bike is bouncing around over cobblestones or Wellington roads.

For anyone living outside of Wellington you can purchase GP bottles using your credit card with the secure PayPal system.

New Zealand orders – NZ$10 each. 2 bottles minimum order. 2 bottles delivered anywhere within New Zealand for NZ$20 including postage. Click 'Buy Now' button below to purchase...

International orders – NZ$15 each. 2 bottles minimum order. 2 bottles delivered anywhere in the world for NZ$30 including postage. Click 'Buy Now' button below to purchase...

If you need to contact the GP team regarding your order, send an email to meogp@slingshot.co.nz

The Spring Classics

The month of March is a very exciting time for cycling fans, as the big one day races kick into gear. Milan-Sanremo is the first true classic of the year on Saturday, 20 March. However, before the first 'monument' of the season there are some important semi-classic races.

Omloop Het Nieuwsblad is the traditional Belgium cycling season opener (raced tonight New Zealand time) followed by Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne on Sunday. Pavé has an excellent preview of the Belgian opening weekend, ranking all the favourites.

Important dates on the professional race calendar to note down are:

20 March, Milan-Sanremo*
28 March, Gent-Wevelgem
04 April, Ronde van Vlaanderen*
11 April, Paris-Roubaix*
18 April, Amstel Gold Race
21 April, La Flèche Wallonne
25 April, Liège-Bastogne-Liège*
*Monuments

For those outside of Europe you can catch the action live on www.cyclingfans.com or check YouTube after the event. To whet your appetite some old classic footage follows...








Photo at top courtesy of Lionel

The Meo GP

The two riders on the front push the pace on the climb, neither wanting to give an inch. The speed creeps ever higher until, unshackled, it is one on one – now rid of outsiders they can indulge in the sibling rivalry that has driven them to this level of effort every weekend. The sons of Italian immigrants, Andrew and David Meo found cycling a natural bed for their combative attitude and these "invitation only" weekend training rides became synonymous with competitive suffering - the GP was born.

Schooled in an era when cycling etiquette and peloton hierarchy was vigorously enforced, "the Meo's" gained reputations as hard men. Andrew and David rigidly enforced these old world values in the GP training rides - hard honest efforts with no shirking nor prima donnas was the standard. Respect was earned and punishment for breaches of etiquette was severe - I personally experienced the repercussions of breaching the rules numerous times; being forced to chase for 45km after being stupid enough to attack up a small climb and, after being dropped up another climb, a 15km chase - the comment on catching up was always along the lines of, "you'll get stronger chasing on your own, eventually you'll be able to keep up" - yeah right.

Based on years of consistent suffering and performance the Meo GP has taken it's place in Wellington (New Zealand's capital city) cycling mythology. To ride the GP is an achievement, to hold the wheel on the climbs and not skip turns on the flat, an indication that you have true race form.

Cycling reflects many facets of society, with the Meo GP carrying an Italian legacy for style, the work ethic of the immigrant and the hard man attitude so evident in the New Zealand pioneering culture - to suffer on a bike with class and style is true art in motion.

Click on the above photo's for a full description on Flickr.

A rivalry that divided a nation...

During the GP trip to Italy last year we were very fortunate to visit the cycling museum beside the Madonna del Ghisallo church in the hills above Bellagio on Lake Como.

Outside the little church there are two bronze heads, one being Gino Bartali and the other, Fausto Coppi.

These monuments were built out of respect for the two great champions of the sport, who to this day continue to divide Italy into two camps. You either support Bartali, the conservative, rural, religious man from Florence or Coppi, the more worldly, secular character from Turin, representing the industrial north.

Coppi and Bartali's rivalry started when they became teammates in 1940, at the Legnano team. Coppi was hired as a domestique for the leader and star of the team, Bartali. However, during that years Giro d'Italia Coppi attacked and raced ahead to win a stage and the race overall. From that moment on their rivalry became a national obsession.

It was an explosive relationship that resulted in epic cycling battles at the Giro, Tour de France, World Championships and one day Classics. To this day Italians still debate at the dinner table over who was the best rider. Coppi supporters say that he won more races, but Bartali fans say he lost his best years to World War II.

The debate continues, but shortly before Coppi died in 1959, he was seen on a national TV show with Bartali. Their competitive days on the bike behind them, they almost seemed friendly to one another...