the last rites, is said to have attributed the death to Fascists unhappy about Bottecchia's more liberal leanings. However, an Italian dying from stab wounds on a New York waterfront claimed he had been employed as a hit man. He named a supposed godfather, although nobody of the name was ever found. Much later, the farmer who had found Bottecchia said on his deathbed: "I saw a man eating my grapes. He'd pushed through the vines and damaged them. I threw a rock to scare him, but it hit him. I ran to him and realised who it was. I panicked and dragged him to the roadside and left him. God forgive me!" Bottecchia bicycles In 1926, Bottecchia began working with frame-maker Teodoro Carnielli to manufacture racing bikes, taking advantage of his Tour de France knowledge. The business expanded under the Carnielli family after Bottecchia's death. In 2006 more than 50,000 Bottechia bikes were sold in Europe. Literary relevance Bottecchia is mentioned at the end of Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises. Career achievements Major results 1923 Tour de France: Second place overall classification Winner stage 2 Wearing yellow jersey for 6 non-consecutive days 1924 Tour de France: Winner overall classification Winner stages 1, 6, 7 and 15 Wearing yellow jersey for 15 days (the entire race). 1925 Giro della provincia Milano Tour de France: Winner overall classification Winner stages 1, 6, 7 and 18 Wearing yellow jersey for 13 non-consecutive days. Grand Tour results timeline See also Legends of Italian sport - Walk of Fame List of unsolved murders References Bibliography External links Official Tour de France results for Ottavio Bottecchia 1894 births 1927 deaths Italian cycle designers Italian male cyclists Male murder victims Cyclists from the Province of Treviso Tour de France winners Unsolved murders in Italy