Pic of the Day 23 May, 2006
Ottavio Bottecchia
http://www.wooljersey.com/
Click on pic for larger image.
Nice side view of Ottavio Bottecchia. He looked like no one else - that flat, horizontal cheek bone; the large parenthesis on either side of his mouth; the thin upper lip, which didn't quite match the thick lower one; large eyes permanently outlined by the marks left by racing goggles; long fore arms and fingers; long legs and short torso. He always looked like he'd just ridden 250 kms on a dusty road.
This pic is from a special article dedicated to Bottecchia, who had died two weeks earlier. I will try to translate André Reuze's article later.
"Bottecchia fut une révélation."
"Son nom restera inséperable du Tour de France."
>From "Le Miroir des Sports" No.711/375, 21 June 1927.
Aldo Ross
Middletown, Ohio