Cyclist in position for a long career
Published Thursday July 2nd, 2009
Road racing Sussex rider competing in events worldwide with top Slipstream team
It's a good thing Christian Meier's sponsor makes global positioning systems, because his career as a cyclist leaves him losing track of the places he's been.
Free GPS is just one of the perks of being a rookie pro road cyclist with the Garmin Slipsteam team, which competes in the top events around the world. When he's not riding through the Alps, or jetting to Australia for a race, Meier makes his home in Girona, Spain, with his fiancée Amber Bouwman. Competitive road cycling has taken the 24-year-old Sussex native to more countries than he can count, and he laughs when asked to run through the list.
"I've been all over South America, all over Europe, I've been to Asia. It's more of a case of where haven't we gotten to go," Meier said. "I have never actually counted up all the countries or anything, but basically I've been to every continent (except) Africa and Antarctica."
He's back in Canada taking a break from the pro tour in Europe in an effort to repeat as national champion in the road race.
Meier competed in the Canadian National Road Championships on the weekend in Saint-Georges-de-Beauce, Que., and he fell just short of his goal by finishing second in the 40-kilometre time trial Friday and eighth in the 180-kilometre road race Sunday.
"Last year they had the race on a really tough circuit that had this pretty good hill in it and we did this hill 18 times. That was a good circuit for me," Meier said. "They've changed it to a much flatter course, which doesn't suit me as much at all."
In his first full season in the top pro ranks, Meier hasn't done much winning: that's just not his role on the team. Cycling might not strike the average person as a team sport, but at Meier's level, that's exactly what it is.
On Garmin Slipstream, Meier points to veterans such as David Millar, Bradley Wiggins, Christian Vande Velde, and David Zabriskie as the stars among the 28 pro riders. He tried out for the team at the end of last season, and signed a two-year contract, making the jump from the lower-level Symmetrics team. This year his role is to soak up all he can and help the featured riders achieve the best results.
"Being a younger rider just coming to Europe this year, it's a lot to learn," Meier said. "For me this year is kind of a learning experience, gaining experience in different situations and most times I'm doing the team role where it's mostly domestique duties. Getting bottles, keeping our designated leaders out of the wind and kind of working for the team more than anything else."
While it isn't the most glamorous spot on the team, Meier enjoys it.
"I've always liked that whole team aspect," Meier said. "One guy wins, but there's so much all the other teammates are doing before that to make that happen."
Of course, he still has big dreams about where he'd like his career to go. The Tour de France is the Stanley Cup of competitive cycling, and Meier hopes a strong performance in that race is in his future.
"I love being a domestique, but as a competitor, you have it in you to want to win, to strive for glory and what not. I'm always hoping one day to be one of those guys," Meier said.
Later this summer, he will take the next step, with his first "grand tour." Meier is scheduled to compete in the Vuelta Espana, one of three 21-day tours (the others are the Tour de France and Giro d'Italia). He's been in action since January, starting with the Tour Down Under in Australia, so will get a bit of a break after the nationals until August, when he'll begin ramping up for the Vuelta, which runs from Aug. 29 to Sept. 20.
"The Vuelta is kind of the better (grand tour) to start with. It's a little bit more low-key. You don't have quite the stress of the Tour (de France)," Meier said.
Before he was winning national championships and competing in grand tours, Meier got his competitive start at age 15 in local mountain bike races. He worked at a bike shop in Sussex to earn money for his bikes and by 17, he was into road cycling and went to Belgium to stay with a relative and train with a club there. From there, he toured with the national team program, and later the Symmetrics team before finally landing a full pro contract with Garmin Slipstream.
Meier, who credits his success to perseverance, hopes to return to the Sussex area after his competitive career. He's interested in houses and architecture, and might pursue a second career along those lines once his racing days are over. He also has dreams of opening a café.
"There's no better place, we think, than here to raise a family," Meier said.
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