Aiming to ride Grand Tours again, Christian Meier appears set to return to the WorldTour circuit following the recent announcement of his signing to GreenEdge from UnitedHealthcare.
The Canadian spent this season riding for the Pro Continental team after two seasons under Jonathan Vaughters at Garmin-Cervélo. He’s now moving to Australian team GreenEdge, which could find out today if it will be given a WorldTour licence by the sports governing body.
“I always had a keen interest in what was happening with the ‘new Australian team’. Knowing some of the people involved in building the team, when time came to start hiring riders I was fortunate enough to have some people believe in my capabilities. Through that I was offered a spot on the team,” an excited Meier told VeloNation.
The 26 year old will again team up with fellow Canadian Svein Tuft after the two rode together at Garmin. Both men rode the Vuelta a España in 2009 and Meier hopes to return to three week races next season.
“I am looking forward to getting back to racing at the WorldTour level, especially having the opportunity to potentially participate in another Grand Tour. With GreenEdge being a new team, of course there is a lot of growth and development to be had.
“I am just looking to do my part, and work as hard as I can to get results…whether it's for the team leader, team-mates, or myself. My role with GreenEdge will mostly be that of a domestique, be it for the Ardennes or riding for the team sprinters at the Grand Tours.”
Meier lost his spot at Garmin when the Cervélo Test Team folded and the bike manufacturer joined the American team as a sponsor, bringing some of its riders across including then-world champion Thor Hushovd.
This season he went on to rack up a number of solid results including runner-up to Tuft in their national time trial championships and a fifth place finish on stage five of Vuelta a Asturias. He went on to finish the race eighth overall and also netted a twentieth place overall in the Tour of California. These were results that didn’t go unnoticed.
“I did have a few options which I had to decide between. There are a lot of great teams out there, but the opportunity to race with a team like GreenEdge was very appealing. Already knowing some of the riders and staff - having worked with them on other teams - will hopefully make it an easy transition. I’m very excited about what 2012 has to bring,” said Meier.
GreenEdge has been included in the top fifteen WorldTour spots based on the riders it has signed and should find out this week if it will be granted a licence based on all the UCI’s criteria.