Vintage Eddy Merckx lost his bike TDF tour de france 1969

By Jan Vandevelde

An article under this title appeared in Knack (a Belgian weekly) on June 3, 2015 (the article is also available on the internet: The Knack Article ). The featured bike is the one with which Baron Eduard Merckx won his first tour in 1969 in a devastating way. A quote from the article:

“The bike is missing, even Merckx doesn't know where it is. Usually the Cannibal took a load of bicycles to the Tour. Except for that first year: then he drove to Paris with one bike (and one spare). "Forget it, you'll never find that bike," his regular soigneur and confidant Guillaume Michiels had told me. "If Eddy doesn't know where the '69 bike is, nobody knows. He was a maniac when it came to bicycles. Couldn't get away from the massage table fast enough to get back to his equipment.”

He was always tinkering, says Michiels. A millimeter higher. Or no, maybe lower.

The lost bike of '69 has to be just about the ultimate fan object. Unless someone has found the rocket that landed Neil Armstrong on the moon on July 21, 1969: that would be even tougher. Or would it.”

Because I wanted to make a replica of this iconic bike myself, I started searching for pictures of the Tour of 69. But I soon found out that Eddy, contrary to what is stated in the article, has used several bicycles. Now I understand that Charles Terryn (Eddy's mechanic during the TdF '69) had to do the necessary maintenance on the bike every night, and no doubt certain parts had to be replaced. On top of that, every stage is different, so it seems logical to me that the bike was adapted per stage to the needs of the day. Two water bottles, one water bottle, no water bottles, other chainrings, other freewheels, other tyres (including wheels and hubs), such details do not make a new bike. What makes a bicycle unique are, for example, the lugs, the bracket, the stickers. And this is exactly where, after studying hundreds of photographs, I came across a number of variations…
I think a timeline is the best way to make things clear. So I sorted all my photos by day. Sometimes the date and place just stood out, in an original publication or in a reference book. Unfortunately there were also many pictures without an exact date or place. In addition to the observation of the bike, I also compared all the details of Merckx himself: cap, sweater, color of the gloves, whether or not he had a bandage on the wrist, ... A lot of undated pictures could still be pinned in this way. And that's how this timeline came about...

Prologue (10.4 km time trial, Roubaix, June 28, 1969).

For this prologue Eddy used a Masi. Note the bracket: a long slot at the bottom, and a smaller oval at the front. Clearly Masi's signature...

See also the Masi Faema team bikes from 1968:

Other details of the 1969 TdF Masi bike:

- high-flange hub in the front wheel
- the shifters are attached to the frame with a tension clamp
- the cable guide above the bracket is attached to the frame with a tension clamp
- drilled chainrings (“drillium”), bores finished in red
- saddle stem with red flutes
- standard Campagnolo brake levers, not drilled
- standard Campagnolo brake calipers, not drilled
- the rear brake cable is attached to the top tube with 3 tension clamps
- distance between the “Eddy Merckx” sticker and the shifters: about 2cm
- no triangular wheel guides on the brake pads
- no rubber caps on the shifters during this stage
- small elliptical sticker under the saddle (Campagnolo?)
- red dot on the front of the saddle lug, just below the horizontal frame tube

Stage 1a (Roubaix – Woluwe, June 29, 1969).

Here Merckx uses a bike with blue rubber caps on the shifters. But the bracket is interesting, with a red dot (circle) on the front. Presumably there are no holes or slots at the bottom of the bracket.

Which frame builder made this bike? It doesn’t look like a Masi or a Pela to me… A Belgian bicycle? In 1969 Kessels signed an agreement with Merckx allowing him to make and sell replicas of Merckx’ winning bike, but it would take another couple of years, until the Molteni era, before they would build bikes for Merckx himself. Another option: in the article in Knack Merckx says he won his first tour on a Terryn bike. Terryn had his frames built by Marcel Vandenneste, who had his workshop behind Charles Terryn's shop. So could this be a Terryn – Vandenneste bike I wonder…?

Other details of the stage 1a Terryn – Vandenneste (?) bike from (the same bike will also be used in stages 2 and 3):
- low flange hub in the front wheel
- the shifters are attached to the frame with a tension clamp
- the cable guide above the bracket is attached to the frame with a tension clamp
- the chainrings are not drilled
- standard Campagnolo saddle stem
- standard Campagnolo brake levers, not drilled
- standard Campagnolo brake calipers, not drilled
- the rear brake cable is attached to the top tube with 3 tension clamps
- distance between the “Eddy Merckx” sticker and the shifters: about 2cm
- no triangular wheel guides on the brake pads
- blue rubber caps on the shifters

Stage 1b (circuit in Sint Pieters Woluwe, 156 km time trial for teams, 29 June 1969).

We see Merckx on a “super light” bike. Also note the bracket: a round dot at the front, and two round holes at the bottom. It is commonly accepted that this bike was built by Guiseppe Pela.

Other details of this Pela bike from stage 1b (the same bike, sometimes with minor modifications, will also be used in stages 8a, 14, 15, 20, 22b)
- hi-flange hub in the front wheel
- the attachment of the shifters is brazed on the frame
- the cable guides above the bracket are brazed on the frame
(- the chainrings are not visible in the photos from this stage)
(- the saddle stem is not visible in the photos from this stage)
- drilled brake levers (“drillium”)
- drilled calipers (“drillium”)
- the rear brake cable is attached to the top tube with only 2 tension clamps
- position of the "Eddy Merckx" sticker in relation to the shifters: almost no intermediate distance
- no triangular wheel guides on the brake pads
- (red?) rubber caps on the shifters
- black Campagnolo pedals

Stage 2 (Woluwe – Maastricht, June 30, 1969).

After two days in the Faema colours, Edddy is now wearing the yellow jersey and a yellow cap with Vittel sponsorship (team classification). He rides the same Terryn – Vandenneste (?) bike as in stage 1a. Note the bracket, with a red dot (circle) on the front. Presumably there are no holes or slots at the bottom of the bracket.

Other details of the Terryn – Vandenneste (?) bike from stage 2:
- low flange hub in the front wheel
- the shifters are attached to the frame with a tension clamp
- the cable guide above the bracket is attached to the frame with a tension clamp
- the chainrings are not drilled
- standard Campagnolo saddle stem
- standard Campagnolo brake levers, not drilled
- standard Campagnolo brake calipers, not drilled
- the rear brake cable is attached to the top tube with 3 tension clamps
- distance between the “Eddy Merckx” sticker and the shifters: about 2cm
- no triangular wheel guides on the brake pads
- blue rubber caps on the shifters

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