I remember reading, I think in one of Merckx's books, that Ocana was riding "a very light bike" that day. Of course that doesn't mean it was titanium, and Merckx, or whoever actually researched the subject could have been mistaken. It is true, however, that the first Ti bikes to appear in the peleton were used mostly on mountain stages, so if Ocana did have a Speedwell in 1971, he would likely have been using it on that stage. The way I heard the account, Ocana did not crash into Merckx, and indeed never caught up with him. I believe it was Ocana who crashed first and Aghostino who then crashed on top of Ocana. Of course it was raining torrents and almost everyone crashed at least once, quite possibly including Merckx, but I think Eddy's crash, if any, would have been up the road from Ocana. Somewhere there must exist a detailed contemporary account, for example coverage in the cycling publications of the day. I'd love to see that if anyone has it. Aldo?
Whether a noodly Ti frame was actually involved in Ocana's crash or not, they can have that effect, as I have personally found myself on the pavement with such a frame, although it was Teledyne rather than Speedwell and I think it was more the Ti fork than the frame that was the problem. Some might saw it was the rider, my only defense to that being that I had made that same turn without incident dozens of times on various steel bikes.
Regards,
Jerry Moos
edvintage63@aol.com wrote:
Of course some of the those "Team Champions" Ocana rode, like the one on which he famously crashed while pursuing Merckx down a mountain descent in a torrential thunderstorm in the TdF, were actually Speedwell titanium frames painted in the Motobecane Team Champion scheme.
Regards,
Jerry Moos Big Spring, TX
Have to weigh in on this one, as I've read the archive posts on this topic previously. The bike on which Ocana crashed in '71 (and more accurately, Merckx crashed first, Ocana crashed into him and was preparing to rejoin the race when he was in turn crashed into) was one of his Motobecanes, not a Speedwell (with a wiggly Ti fork or whatever). There's a story in one of the Cycle Sports about those Speedwells, and Ocana didn't even have one in '71. In fact, I believe he didn't have one until '73 (don't have the article in front of me, but can reference it when I get home tonight). Also, the photos of Ocana's Speedwell frames I've seen show bikes that are actually badged Speedwell rather than Motobecane. In one of the Cycle Sport photos in the feature on Ocana (from November '74, if memory serves) Ocana is shown writhing on the ground following the '71 crash. In the foreground of the photo (still lying on the pavement I believe) is his bike (or if it's not his bike, somebody better convince me a spare bike was left lying in the road while Ocana was tended to, or a teammate fell in the same spot moments after Ocana). It's a Motobecane. It has the foil "Motobecane" decal evident on the seattube. It also has a seatcluster that is quite evidently lugged. You can see the lower point on the seat lug and the semi-wrapparound stays and other lug edges. Ocana's Speedwells were tigged. Let's put the story that Ocana crashed because he was riding a noodly Ti frame while pursuing Merckx on that descent to rest. It was a Moto Ocana was riding that day; I'd bet my blue '68 Cinelli SC on it. I'd also bet that same Cinelli that Ocana would have beaten Merckx if he hadn't crashed, but then Ocana crashed in '69 and '72 as well. Maybe he just wasn't a great descender no matter what bike you put him on (but the man could sure climb AND time trial. Nor was that the final tragedy in his life, sadly.
Ed Granger
battling list mythology today in
Lancaster, PA, USA