TdF - 1924 - Ottavio Bottecchia Traditional Cache
TdF - 1924 - Ottavio Bottecchia
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Ottavio Bottecchia (born San Martino di Colle Umberto, Italy, 1 August 1894, died Gemona, Italy, 14 June 1927) was an Italian cyclist and the first Italian winner of the Tour de France. He was found dead by the roadside; the reason remains a mystery.
In 1924 he won the first stage of the Tour and kept his lead to the end, the first Italian to win. But here is the first of the mysteries in his life. Bottecchia wore the yellow jersey throughout the race except for the stage closest to Italy, which went from Toulon to Nice. That day he wore his team jersey, one of several in the peloton and therefore less obvious. The Tour's paperwork vanished when it was taken south from Paris in 1940 to escape the German invasion of the second world war and none of the newspaper reports of the period explains Bottecchia's decision.
The Tour de France
The Tour de France is a cycling stage race held since 1903 over a current period of three weeks, although it was not staged from 1914 to 1918 and from 1940 to 1946, because of the World Wars.
French cyclists have been the most successful in the event, having won 36 of the 98 tours, although their last champion was in 1985. They are followed by Belgian riders, who have won 18, including 7 consecutive titles from 1912 to 1922. Cyclists from Spain have won 13 events. Cyclists from The United States of America have won 10 events, all coming from LeMond and Armstrong.
In total, cyclists from 12 countries have won the Tour de France.
During the Tour's history, its organisers have launched a series of other jerseys. In 1933, the race's best climbers were rewarded with the King of the Mountains competition, but it was not until 1975 that the leading rider in the classification wore the distinctive polka dot jersey. To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the race in 1953, the green jersey competition was started. It rewarded the consistent finishers in individual stages by awarding points depending on the place in the stage. In 1975, the Tour organisers launched an award for the leading young cyclist, awarding a white jersey to the leading cyclist under 26 years of age in the general classification.
The first Australian to win the Tour was Cadel Evans in 2011 after being runner-up in 2007 & 2008
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