Greg Lemond's 1989 Bottecchia
11-17-21, 12:44 PM
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Did Bottecchia actually make Greg's frames, or were they Roland Della Santa frames painted and decaled to resemble Bottecchia's? Just curious.
11-17-21, 02:16 PM
#52
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My most memorable bike race was in Tijuana, Mexico around 1982.
Living in San Diego we frequently traveled across the border as they had a robust racing schedule with European type courses.
We were all getting ready for the start of the race when a Mercedes pulls up and Greg and and his dad get out.
This was probably shortly before he turned pro and was riding his Della Santa.
The race was called Tour de Tijuana and I remember riding down the main boulevard past the Caliente race track right on Greg's wheel.
When we got to the first major hill Greg launched and I did not seem again. I ended up in a small group and finished pretty well which earned me some Pesos at the finish which I still have today.
Greg ended up winning the race.
Living in San Diego we frequently traveled across the border as they had a robust racing schedule with European type courses.
We were all getting ready for the start of the race when a Mercedes pulls up and Greg and and his dad get out.
This was probably shortly before he turned pro and was riding his Della Santa.
The race was called Tour de Tijuana and I remember riding down the main boulevard past the Caliente race track right on Greg's wheel.
When we got to the first major hill Greg launched and I did not seem again. I ended up in a small group and finished pretty well which earned me some Pesos at the finish which I still have today.
Greg ended up winning the race.
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11-19-21, 01:53 PM
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Welcome to the forums, Kenergizer ! Great hearing more of the back-story of that bike. 
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11-20-21, 12:10 AM
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Roland Della Santa made me two custom bikes. We discussed this exact question and the answer is no, the red/white Bottecchias were made by Carnielli.. Also, the very first Lemonds were made by Della Santa and/or Carnielli. Roland did make Greg's "Huffy."
Last edited by Fivethumbs; 11-21-21 at 05:16 PM.
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11-20-21, 12:42 AM
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Kenergizer Great story, thanks for sharing. I love seeing a bikes history traced out like that so you can see it like a family tree. And yes I do wonder what happened to that TT bike, what a historic bike that is!
Artist Mario Schifano was asked to do a series of jerseys for the 1989 TDF, and as an owner of a 89 red and white Bottecchia myself I've been on the look out for these in recent years. A few years ago I got the yellow jersey version
And only yesterday I managed to get the King of the Mountains version which has individual mountains in each of the polka dots
I'm on the look out for the green and red jersey versions now
Artist Mario Schifano was asked to do a series of jerseys for the 1989 TDF, and as an owner of a 89 red and white Bottecchia myself I've been on the look out for these in recent years. A few years ago I got the yellow jersey version
And only yesterday I managed to get the King of the Mountains version which has individual mountains in each of the polka dots
I'm on the look out for the green and red jersey versions now
Last edited by botty kayer; 11-20-21 at 03:32 AM.
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04-18-23, 10:55 AM
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EDIT: though I just read the good drs. post on the provenance of the R&W bottechia's and apparently Greg did ride them on the tour.
Last edited by tendency; 04-18-23 at 11:02 AM.
04-18-23, 11:17 AM
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Were the team ADR Bottecchias one particular paint scheme or both the red/white and yellow/purple?
Or ... what is meant when a Bott is marketed as a team ADR bike?
Or ... what is meant when a Bott is marketed as a team ADR bike?
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04-19-23, 12:01 AM
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Armstrong has a flawed personality. Lemond has a few quirks.
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04-20-23, 07:05 AM
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I have a 1989 Bottecchia team frame. It is beat. I don't know who the rider was, but would like to find out. It is not Greg's size unfortunately...
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04-21-23, 07:51 PM
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ADR (a.k.a. AD Renting) began sponsoring a small Belgian cycling team in 1987. The first bikes were MBK (Motobecane) steel frames with blue and white color scheme. The riders wore jerseys that were blue/red/green/yellow. In 1988 the team switched to Eddy Merckx bikes that were blue/green/white with red accents. The riders' jerseys were still the same basic colors but the colors were different shades and formatted differently. Probably the most famous rider during this year was Eddy Planckaert as he won the 1988 Tour of Flanders and the green jersey in the Tour (and later in 1990 won Paris-Roubaix by 1/2 mm over 7-11's Steve Bauer). In 1989 the team switched to Bottecchia bicycles. At that time other teams racing on Bottecchias usually rode the classic Bottecchia red with white headtube / seat tube or possibly the black with white headtube / seat tube (e.g. Team Malvor). 1989 was the last year ADR was in existence. During this year the team rode both the classic red/white colorway and the purple/neon yellow colorway. Many people consider the purple/neon yellow colorway as the ADR "team" because it matched the team's new purple/neon yellow jerseys but also because the Bottecchia catalog listed the purple/neon yellow frames as the "ADR" colorway. Famous riders during this year are Lemond (of course) but also Eddy Planckaert and Johan Museeuw. If you watch a video of the '89 Tour you will see Lemond on a standard red/white steel Bottecchia road bike on the flat stages and a dark purple/yellow TVT carbon frame badged as a Botttecchia in the mountains. During some stages you will see glimpses of other ADR team riders on the purple/neon yellow frames. I have a video of the 1989 Omloop Het Volk which shows ADR team rider Johan Lammerts in a break on a purple/neon yellow Bottecchia.
Last edited by Fivethumbs; 04-22-23 at 12:23 AM.
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04-21-23, 08:27 PM
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Great info. Thank you for taking the time, Fivethumbs.
Very cool. I need to research those. Love Motos. And I thought they had gone out of biz by then.
Very cool. I need to research those. Love Motos. And I thought they had gone out of biz by then.
04-21-23, 08:53 PM
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04-22-23, 06:51 PM
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I watched Greg Lemond win La Vuelta de Bisbee as a Junior in 1978, after racing in the first two in '76 and '77 myself.
I know, big whoopie.
I know, big whoopie.
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04-23-23, 09:31 AM
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So I was on a work trip in South Bend, Indiana and ended up driving through the town of Three Oaks, Michigan on my way to Warren Dunes State Park on the Lake when I had a little free time. Driving through town I see a sign pointing to a Bicycle Museum. So of course I had to stop. About 15 bikes dating back to the late 1800's.
But hanging on the wall was one of the Bottecchia's that Greg Lemond road to victory in the 1989 Tour de France. The bike is on loan from a local doctor. There was a signed photo from Lemond to the doctor saying something like, "enjoy the bike".
I couldn't get any closer to the bike because of some other one's on the floor in front of it.
If you're ever in South West Michigan, stop by the town of Three Oaks and see the bike for yourself.
https://www.facebook.com/deweycannontradingcompany
But hanging on the wall was one of the Bottecchia's that Greg Lemond road to victory in the 1989 Tour de France. The bike is on loan from a local doctor. There was a signed photo from Lemond to the doctor saying something like, "enjoy the bike".
I couldn't get any closer to the bike because of some other one's on the floor in front of it.
If you're ever in South West Michigan, stop by the town of Three Oaks and see the bike for yourself.
https://www.facebook.com/deweycannontradingcompany
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04-24-23, 11:31 AM
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06-28-23, 03:46 PM
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I was in that race with you jnbrown and Greg. I remember the race well! Fairly large peloton of maybe 40+ riders. Most memorable thing was a huge hill right at the start, maybe 1 or two miles into the race. It was brutal and more than half the field got shelled. I remember thinking what a drag it would be to drive all the way down to Tajuana to race and get badly dropped in the first 5 minutes of the race. I hung with Greg and the leaders until about mile 60 of the race. At one point at about mile 50 Greg came up next to me and said he was impressed that I was able to hang riding the bike I was on. Yeah, I was on a piece of junk steel Schwinn LeTour 10-speed that still had the kickstand on the frame. Greg was polite and friendly. I raced on the track and that was a long race for me and I didn't have a road bike for racing, just track racing. It was a stiff but manageable pace for the whole ride, with the exception of that first brutal hill that took some major effort to get up. Greg and about 9 other riders road away from me at mile 60 and yeah, Greg won the race. Not a big surprise but made for a fun memory.
Last edited by DeanHough; 06-28-23 at 03:55 PM.
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