Ottavio Bottecchia facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Ottavio Bottecchia

Bottecchia in 1923
Personal information
Nickname	Il Muratore del Friuli (The Bricklayer of Friuli)
Born	(1894-08-01)1 August 1894 San Martino di Colle Umberto, Italy
Died	15 June 1927(1927-06-15) (aged 32) Gemona, Italy
Team information
Discipline	Road
Role	Rider
Major wins
Grand Tours Tour de France General classification (1924, 1925) Mountains classification (1924, 1925) 9 individual stages (1923-1925) Stage races Giro della Provincia di Milano (1925)

Ottavio Bottecchia (1 August 1894 – 15 June 1927) was a famous Italian cyclist. He was the first Italian ever to win the exciting Tour de France bicycle race!

Sadly, his life ended mysteriously. He was found hurt by the road and died later. No one truly knows what happened.

Early Life and Army Days

Ottavio Bottecchia was born into a large family in Italy. He was the eighth of nine children, and his family didn't have much money. He only went to school for one year. After that, he worked as a shoemaker and then as a bricklayer. His father even went to Germany to find work. Ottavio later got married and had three children of his own.

During World War I, Ottavio joined the Bersaglieri army group in Italy. For four years, he bravely carried messages and supplies on the front lines against the Austrians. He used a special folding bicycle for his missions.

Life in the army was tough. Ottavio got sick with malaria and had to escape from being captured many times. He even survived a gas attack while helping his friends retreat. He also went on secret missions into areas controlled by the enemy. For his bravery, Ottavio was given a bronze medal.

After the war, in 1919, Ottavio moved to France to work as a builder. Some people unfairly said he wasn't truly Italian because of his strong local accent. His family continued to face hard times, and his youngest daughter sadly passed away in 1921 when she was seven years old.

Ottavio then returned to Italy and started competitive cycling. He won several races, including the Giro del Piave and the Coppa della Vittoria.

Becoming a Professional Cyclist

Ottavio Bottecchia became a professional cyclist in 1920. A man named Teodoro Carnielli, who led a cycling group, gave him a racing bicycle. Carnielli encouraged Ottavio to join a sports club in Pordenone.

In 1923, Ottavio finished fifth in the 11th Giro d'Italia. This was a great achievement for a rider without a team. His strong performance caught the eye of Henri Pélissier, a top French rider. Pélissier asked Ottavio to join his professional team, Automoto-Hutchinson.

Automoto was a French motorcycle company that also sold its products in Italy. They hoped that having an Italian rider like Ottavio would help them sell more products in Italy. Henri Pélissier said he had seen Ottavio race before and knew he was talented. So, the team signed him.

When Ottavio joined his new team in France, he looked very rugged. His skin was tanned from being outdoors, and his clothes were old. The Tour de France organizer, Henri Desgrange, even called him "butterfly" because his ears stuck out.

Ottavio didn't know much French at first. He could only say a few words like: "No bananas, lots of coffee, thank you."

As a professional cyclist, Ottavio learned to read. His friend and training partner, Alfonso Piccin, taught him. They would read the Italian sports newspaper, Gazzetta dello Sport. They also read secret pamphlets that spoke out against the government of Benito Mussolini.

Tour de France Victories

Ottavio's success with his new team began in the 1923 Tour de France. He won one stage of the race and finished second overall. He wore the famous yellow jersey (given to the race leader) for six days. He passed the yellow jersey to Pélissier, who then won the Tour. Pélissier even predicted that Ottavio would win the next year.

People in Italy were so proud of Ottavio that the Gazetta dello Sport newspaper asked its readers to donate money to reward him. Even Mussolini was one of the first to donate.

In 1924, Ottavio Bottecchia won the very first stage of the Tour de France. He kept his lead all the way to the end, becoming the first Italian to ever win the race! He wore his yellow jersey all the way home to Milan on the train. He traveled in third class to save money. By then, his French had gotten better, and he could say: "Not tired, French and Belgians good friends, cycling good job."

Ottavio won the Tour de France again in 1925. He had help from Lucien Buysse, who was like a helper rider (called a domestique). Ottavio won four stages that year.

After his second Tour de France win, Ottavio wasn't the same. In the 1926 Tour, he dropped out during a big thunderstorm. He was very sad and felt like something was wrong. He coughed a lot and had aches. That winter, his younger brother was sadly hit by a car and died.

Ottavio's Mysterious Death

Monument to Bottecchia at Trasaghis by the Tagliamento river

On May 23, 1927, Ottavio's brother, Giovanni, was riding his bike near Conegliano when a car hit and killed him. Ottavio returned to Italy from France because of this sad event. He even led the group of cyclists at the Giro d'Italia on June 2.

On June 3, 1927, a farmer found Ottavio on the side of a road near his home. Ottavio was badly hurt. His skull was cracked, and he had several broken bones. His bicycle was lying nearby and was not damaged. There were no marks on the road to show a car had hit him, and his bike didn't look like he had lost control.

Ottavio was taken to an inn and then to a hospital in Gemona. He died there on June 14, twelve days later, without waking up.

On the day he was found, Ottavio had woken up early to go training. He went to his friend Alfonso Piccini's house, but Piccini couldn't go. So, Ottavio went to see another friend, Riccardo Zille, but he was busy too. So, Ottavio set out to train alone.

Many ideas have been shared about how Ottavio died. Some people thought it was an accident, maybe because he got sick or had sunstroke and fell. The investigation was closed quickly.

However, others believed it was not an accident. A priest who saw Ottavio said he thought it might have been done by people who didn't like Ottavio's political views. Much later, the farmer who found Ottavio said on his deathbed that he had thrown a rock at Ottavio because he was eating his grapes and damaging his vines. The farmer said the rock hit Ottavio, and he panicked and moved him to the roadside.

Bottecchia Bicycles

In 1926, Ottavio Bottecchia started working with a frame-maker named Teodoro Carnielli. They began making racing bikes together, using Ottavio's knowledge from the Tour de France. After Ottavio's death, the Carnielli family continued and grew the business. In 2006, more than 50,000 Bottecchia bikes were sold in Europe!

Literary Mention

Ottavio Bottecchia is mentioned at the end of the famous book The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway.

Career Achievements

Major Results

Grand Tour Results Timeline

See Also

• Legends of Italian sport - Walk of Fame
• List of unsolved mysteries

Images for kids

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