Who is Ottavio Bottechia?
Jean-Paul Ollivier – He is an Italian, originally from Friuli, who worked as a mason and began by participating in races, as an amateur, on Sundays. In 1922 he turned professional. He is not particularly fond of cycling, he mainly wants to be able to earn money and live comfortably. His good results encourage him in this direction and he does not lack aptitude! He has already distinguished himself during events in Italy. Journalists and sports directors noticed him and encouraged him to respond to the invitation from a French group called Automoto-Hutchinson. This team wants a competent, solid man, a good climber and good sprinter, who can help the Pélissier brothers, Henri and Francis, who are the French stars of the time. Bottechia accepted and the Pélissiers welcomed him with good grace.
Was it well accepted in France?
The comments are quite ironic. We wonder about a choice considered strange. Bottechia is not very handsome and we wonder “what is this Italian, skinny, with a sad face!” » He is a very simple man, who has his feet on the ground. He speaks very little French and shows no emotion. During the First World War, he joined a bersaglieri* cycling company. He was taken prisoner three times and each time escaped with his bike!
In the summer of 1923, for his first participation in the Tour de France, he was already the first Italian to wear the yellow jersey after winning the sprint at the finish of the second stage. And he finished in second place in the general classification, behind Henri Pélissier! He, in fact, served the Pélissier brothers well and was the revelation of that year.
In 1924, he proved that he is a climber of the first magnitude and that he is very strong. He won the first stage Paris-Le Havre and kept the yellow jersey until the arrival in Paris, on the Parc des Princes track. This is an incredible performance! He is not only the first Italian to win the Tour de France but also the first rider in the history of the Tour to wear the yellow jersey from start to finish. As for the Pélissiers, they abandoned the race.
His victories aroused enthusiasm in Italy…
Yes, he has a lot of supporters in Italy. In 1924, the organizers of the Tour even feared that they would cross the border when the race passed on the French Riviera, very close to the border, or in the Alps, and that they would hinder it on its route. There are also fanatic supporters, supporters of Mussolini, who have threatened him because he stays away from politics, and he has been warned of the danger. It got to the point that he was removed from the yellow jersey and given a purple jersey so that he could not be spotted in the peloton. In fact, they were unable to identify him. The following year, he also won the Tour de France but did not keep the jersey for the entire race, as in 1924. He still won four stages.
On June 3, 1927, he was found in a coma with a bloody head on a small country road in Veneto and died twelve days later. What do you think of this tragic ending?
There have been a lot of rumors. It was said that it was a political crime committed by fascists. He himself had no political background and no desire to embark on this path either. It was said that he was a fascist, then an anti-fascist. He was content to exercise his profession as a cyclist.
According to the latest information on the subject, a farmer has accused himself, twenty years after the affair. He confessed, before dying, that he had killed him because he had caught him stealing grapes from his vineyard. Another man assured, also before dying, in the United States, that he had been charged, by contract, with the assassination. But we never found the sponsor. I have no opinion on the question, but the peasant’s version seems the most plausible.
*bersaglieri: elite unit of the Italian infantry.
