The Top Time B01 Chronograph 41 Eddy Merckx

From Breitling -

Courtesy of Breitling

I found out about this limited edition via Axel Merckx's Instagram feed - merci Axel!

Courtesy of Breitling

Per Breitling:

Active at the very peak of cycling from the late 1960s through the mid-1970s, Eddy Merckx is widely regarded as the greatest road cyclist of all time. With 11 Grand Tour titles, 19 Monument victories, and 525 total wins, he excelled across every discipline and terrain the sport had to offer. His legacy is defined by achievements that remain unmatched to this day. To honor the legendary cyclist, Breitling created the Top Time B01 Eddy Merckx edition. This Top Time features a yellow dial bearing Eddy Merckx's signature above the 6 o’clock index, while his name appears on the tachymeter scale. Created in the 1960s as Breitling’s “unconventional chronograph,” the Top Time was made for speed, style, and self-expression. It features signature details, including squircle subdials, mushroom pushers, trim proportions, and a balanced layout that stay true to its origins. Limited to 525 pieces, this special edition pays tribute to Merckx’s remarkable 525 victories.

Priced at $8,050.

Here are the pertinents -

MOVEMENT
Caliber:
Breitling 01 (Manufacture)
Movement:
Self-winding mechanical
Power reserve:
Approx. 70 hrs
Chronograph:
1/4 second, 30 minutes
Vibration:
28,800 v.p.h
Jewel:
34 jewels

CASE
Case material:
Stainless steel
Water resistance:
10 bars (100 m/330 ft)
Crystal:
Sapphire

DIMENSIONS
Diameter:
41 mm
Thickness:
13.3 mm
Lug width (in-between lug):
20 mm

For You Cycling Fans Out There From Breitling

Breitling continues to have a press distribution system that continues to baffle me. Try though I might, I have yet to get added to it over the past 15 years. Now in fairness, I have been guilty (as has a lot of members of the Fourth and Fifth Estates) of not fawning over the "Squad" concept, and questioning the sanity of what appeared to be a lease program that did not guarantee that you would end up with the watch you really wanted. But let's focus on more positive things...

But with all that in the rearview mirror, I did some digging on my own when I remembered that it was Giro time again, and that Breitling had released two interesting variations of their Top Time series to honor to Italian cycling legends - Gino Bartali and Fausto Coppi.

And whether they intended to or not, the two represent sharp contrasts. 

Coppi was dashing, glamorous, rode for Bianchi in its "Celeste" livery (note to the Breitling PR team - CELESTE, not turquoise!), left his wife for la dama in bianco di Fausto Coppi, ran afoul of the Pope himself, and died of malaria after an ill-fated visit to Burkina Faso to race locals and then go hunting. I supose the irony being that one of the mighty hunters were felled by a small flying insect.

Where Coppi was a matinee idol straight from central casting, Gino Bartali was quite the other thing. As it is a pretty involved recounting, I will let the Wikipedia entry tell the tale -

Rescues and Resistance role during World War II

[edit]

Bartali used bicycle training as a cover for secret efforts to rescue Jews.

Bartali earned respect for his work in helping Jews who were being persecuted by the Nazis during the time of the Italian Social Republic. He appears as a character in the 1978 novel, The Assisi Underground: The Priest who Rescued Jews, and in the 1985 American television film adaptation, both based on the real-life account by Father Rufino Niccacci.

It emerged in December 2010 that Bartali had hidden a Jewish family in his cellar and, according to one of the survivors, saved their lives in doing so.^[17]

Bartali used his fame to carry messages and documents to the Italian Resistance.^[18][19] Bartali cycled from Florence through Tuscany, Umbria, and Marche, many times traveling as far afield as Assisi, all the while wearing the racing jersey emblazoned with his name. Neither the Fascist police nor the German troops risked discontent by arresting him.

Giorgio Nissim, a Jewish accountant from Pisa,^[18] was a member of DELASEM,^[20] founded by the Union of the Israelitic Communities to help Jewish Italians escape persecution. The network in Tuscany was discovered in autumn 1943 and all Jewish members except Nissim sent to concentration camps. With the help of the Archbishops of Genoa Pietro Boetto and Florence Elia Dalla Costa, the Franciscan Friars of Assisi and others, Nissim reorganized DELASEM in Tuscany and helped 800 survive.

Nissim died in 2000. His sons found from his diaries that Bartali had used his fame to help. Nissim and the Oblati Friars of Lucca forged documents and needed photographs of those they were helping. Bartali used to leave Florence in the morning, pretending to train, ride to Assisi where many Jews were hiding in the Franciscan convents, collect their photographs and ride back to Nissim.^[5][21][22] At Assisi Bartali was in direct contact with Rufino Niccacci.^[23] Bartali also used his position to learn about raids on safehouses.

Bartali was eventually taken to Villa Triste in Florence. The SD and the Italian RSS official Mario Carità questioned Bartali, threatening his life.^[22] In spite of any threats, Bartali did not reveal what he had done. Even after the war he never boasted his merits; he used to say: "Some medals are made to hang on the soul, not the jacket."^[24]

Bartali continued working with the Assisi Network. In 1943, he led Jewish refugees towards the Swiss Alps himself. He cycled, pulling a wagon with a secret compartment, telling patrols it was just part of his training. Bartali told his son Andrea only that "One does these things and then that's that".^[22]

In June 2012, a book about Bartali's wartime activities, Road To Valor by Aili and Andres McConnon, was published.^[25]

In 2013, Yad Vashem awarded Gino Bartali the honour Righteous Among the Nations.^[26] He is a central figure in the 2014 documentary My Italian Secret: The Forgotten Heroes.^[5] In 2007, the script for a movie based on Bartali during World War II, called Lion Man of Tuscany was on the Black List, a survey of the "most liked" un-produced scripts in Hollywood.^[27]

In 2017, research by Michele Sarfatti questioned Bartali's efforts to save Jewish lives, referring to the very limited sources and contradicting that Bartali would have described this in his diaries.^[28] In 2021, Marco and Stefano Pivato corroborated this stance by Sarfatti, calling the whole story 'invented' ('una storia inventata').^[29][30] In 2021, an interview with Sergio Della Pergola, an Israeli-Italian academic who was involved in Yad Vashem’s investigation of Bartali’s role during the war, was published in the Corriere della Sera. Outlining some of the evidence regarding Bartali’s efforts during the war, he disagreed with the argument put forth by Sarfatti and Marco and Stefano Pivato. He was quoted as saying: “To question whether Gino Bartali risked his life to save Jews is like denying that the Earth is round.”^[31]

At any rate, two legends of cycling, two tributes from Breitling -

                            For Fausto Coppi

Courtesy of Breitling



For Gino Bartali

Summer Repeat - In Honor of the Tour de France - A Family that Does NOT Crack Under Pressure

I first put this out there 2 years ago.  Another Tour de France has rolled around and it's time once again for hundreds of mad people to sadistically pedal their bicycles on a fool's errand throughout the French (and this year for a few days, Belgian) countryside.  So in honor of them, and some of my own cycling heroes, I thought I'd reheat it.  This year is special with Bob Roll taking over from the recently departed Paul Sherwen.  And so far he is doing an admirable job, although the rather curious decision to interview Lance Armstrong during yesterday's stage left a decidedly bad taste in many peoples' mouths - mine included.  C'mon Bobke!  At any rate, here you go -

In Honor of the Tour de France - A Family that Does NOT Crack Under Pressure!

Cycling, particularly Le Tour?  It's all about time.  

Today is the grand finale of the 2017 edition, and as I type this the riders are approaching the Avenue des Champs-Élysées for the final circuits of this year's race.  

Cycling is still exciting, but I long for the time when there was a bit more grit to it.   No radios taped to riders ears, and the only performance enhancing substance was a ham sandwich and a bottle of pilfered red ; )

But this year is very special, and for many ways the Tag-Heuer / 7-ELEVEN story line has come full circle - Taylor Phinney, the son of two-time Tour de France stage winner Davis Phinney will be completing his first ever Tour de France.  The Phinney's in many way typify what the Tag Heuer motto is all about.

Shamelessly borrowed from the world-wide infoweb

Following his cycling career, Davis Phinney was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease at the age of 40.  While it would have been easy to curl up in a ball and feel sorry for himself, he created the Davis Phinney Foundation in 2004 to help support people with Parkinson's.  

Shamelessly Borrowed from the world-wide infoweb

And as for the son?  Taylor Phinney became a professional racer and was showing a rather precocious talent.  This year he surprisingly found himself in the polka-dot jersey reserved for the King of the Mountains. 

Shamelessly borrowed

It was a short-lived honor, but one that Phinney the Younger relished and enjoyed - reminding us that there is actually meant to be some joy, wonder, and passion in sport!

 

Shamelessly borrowed

And truth be told, we didn't really think we'd see him do so well.  In fact, many cycling experts weren't sure if Taylor Phinney would be able to be able to walk unassisted at this point. 

Shamelessly borrowed

In the 2014 US National Road Race championship he suffered a horrendous accident that was so bad, his future as a cyclist was a secondary concern to whether on not he would even get to keep his left leg.  Yes, it was that bad.

But here we are, 3 years on, and another Phinney is helping animate 3 magical weeks in France.

Connie Carpenter and Davis Phinney - image shamelessly borrowed from Cycling News

Of course you could site genetics for his natural ability - his mother was not exactly a slouch on the bike... Connie Carpenter, the winner of the first ever Olympic Road Race for women at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles.

But that is just about the innate talent, what this family embodies is well beyond their skill and speed on a bike.  They are unbreakable, and it is their every day lives, facing adversity and coming back from it that make them so inspiring.

So Tag Heuer, if you're reading this (and I'm sure you are) here are some famous people who did not crack under pressure!

And on that note, a summer repeat:

Remembering my First Tag Heuer and Team 7-ELEVEN

The year was 1990.  I was in my final year at the University of Oregon, and was visiting my father over the summer break.  I had one more term to go, and two days before I was set to head back to Eugene, my Bullovawatch pooped out.  Trying to find someone capable of changing the battery was on par with finding an honest politician - it just didn't seem to be possible.  So on what must have been the fifth attempt to get a battery changed with no success, I looked down in the display case and saw what would become my first Swiss watch.  The Tag Heuer Formula 1, circa 1990.

I realize that we all had different introductions to Tag Heuer, and this was mine.  And out of necessity, a passion was born.

I have shamelessly borrowed this advertisement image from Calibre 11 - not directly Calibre 11, it was pulled-up via a Google search for images.  Hope you don't mind ; )

All of the models in this ad were available, but the one that went home with me was the third from the left, the red case, green strap and bezel - or as I came to refer to it - the 7-ELEVEN Tag Heuer Watch!

Borrowed shamelessly from the internet

Andy Hampsten and the 7-ELEVEN team were my cycling idols in the 80s.

And he was the first American winner of the Giro D'Italia back in 1988.

Courtesy, clearly, of someone else!

And the Tag Heuer connection to cycling (and my passion) went even further and was clearly shared by others, including one of the main voices of Tour de France television coverage today (at least here in the US) Bob Roll, a team mate of Hampsten's on team 7-ELEVEN.

Bob Roll on the left, Andy Hampsten on the right

Bob, or "Bobke" as he is often known is perhaps my all-time favorite cyclist.  Not because of his many wins in big-time races... let's face it, there weren't many! 

Shamelessly borrowed

But Bob, Andy and the rest of the 7-ELEVEN team perhaps best embodied what Tag-Heur's motto is today - they did NOT "Crack under pressure".  No matter what the odds, Bobke put it all out there!

Courtesy of, clearly, someone else

Apart from Hampsten, and Davis Phinney, they were a team made up of journeymen dreamers.  Riders who had a sort of, "what the Hell, let's give it a go" attitude.  Keep in mind, this was the era of a certain fellow known as "the Badger" and a host of other cycling GODs.  But these guys threw their hats in the ring and gave it a go.  And in an age where US cyclists were viewed more as amateurs, they came to Europe and impressed the Europeans.

I got to meet one of my heroes in person when I was working for DOXA Watches and we presented him with a  Yellow DOXA Divingstar in San Francisco -

My identification with Tag Heuer went beyond just the 7-ELEVEN connection.  It was clearly a great brand with a great watch, but like team 7-ELEVEN people didn't just take that at face value.  Tag Heuer had to put in a lot of time and effort to get where they are today.

So as we wait to hear how much the Cara Delevingne auction brings in, I thought it might be fun to think back to some other "underdogs" that Tag Heuer partnered with, back in the 80's.

Enjoy your watches!

30 Years Later

What constantly baffles me, and I feel that I can say this as a former (15 - 16 years) resident of California, why the Tour of California fails to deliver on its promise.  It is, sorry to say, a low rent option to the races that tend to run at the same time.  And this year it is coinciding with the Giro d’Italia.  While the Giro does tend to reside in the shadow of the Tour de France, in many ways it is a better race.  It's a bit more unpredictable.  The organizers tend to create a race that defies the preconceived notions of how a stage race should be laid out.  And that is what makes it so great.

This year also marks 30 years since American Andy Hampsten defied the odds and with his fellow journeymen from 7-Eleven, crept up the Gavia Pass in a near blizzard, and claimed the Maglia Rosa (that's pink jersey to you).  And where this all ties together with watches?  He and the entire 7-Eleven team wore watches from Tag Heuer.


So while the folks at Tag feel that sponsoring a (I'm sorry, but I've got to be honest here) truly hideous looking best young rider's jersey at a B level race and not sending any press about it is a better use of their marketing and pr money and efforts, I thought I would pick up the ball and air out this repeat. 

Remembering my First Tag Heuer and Team 7-ELEVEN

The year was 1990.  I was in my final year at the University of Oregon, and was visiting my father over the summer break.  I had one more term to go, and two days before I was set to head back to Eugene, my Bullova watch pooped out.  Trying to find someone capable of changing the battery was on par with finding an honest politician - it just didn't seem to be possible.  So on what must have been the fifth attempt to get a battery changed with no success, I looked down in the display case and saw what would become my first Swiss watch.  The Tag Heuer Formula 1, circa 1990.

I realize that we all had different introductions to Tag Heuer, and this was mine.  And out of necessity, a passion was born.

I have shamelessly borrowed this advertisement image from Calibre 11 - not directly Calibre 11, it was pulled-up via a Google search for images.  Hope you don't mind ; )

All of the models in this ad were available, but the one that went home with me was the third from the left, the red case, green strap and bezel - or as I came to refer to it - the 7-ELEVEN Tag Heuer Watch!

Borrowed shamelessly from the internet

Andy Hampsten and the 7-ELEVEN team were my cycling idols in the 80s.

And he was the first American winner of the Giro D'Italia back in 1988.

Courtesy, clearly, of someone else!

And the Tag Heuer connection to cycling (and my passion) went even further and was clearly shared by others, including one of the main voices of Tour de France television coverage today (at least here in the US) Bob Roll, a team mate of Hampsten's on team 7-ELEVEN.

Bob Roll on the left, Andy Hampsten on the right

Bob, or "Bobke" as he is often known is perhaps my all-time favorite cyclist.  Not because of his many wins in big-time races... let's face it, there weren't many!

Shamelessly borrowed

But Bob, Andy and the rest of the 7-ELEVEN team perhaps best embodied what Tag-Heur's motto is today - they did NOT "Crack under pressure".  No matter what the odds, Bobke put it all out there!

Courtesy of, clearly, someone else

Apart from Hampsten, and Davis Phinney, they were a team made up of journeymen dreamers.  Riders who had a sort of, "what the Hell, let's give it a go" attitude.  Keep in mind, this was the era of a certain fellow known as "the Badger" and a host of other cycling GODs.  But these guys threw their hats in the ring and gave it a go.  And in an age where US cyclists were viewed more as amateurs, they came to Europe and impressed the Europeans.

I got to meet one of my heroes in person when I was working for DOXA Watches and we presented him with a  Yellow DOXA Divingstar in San Francisco -

My identification with Tag Heuer went beyond just the 7-ELEVEN connection.  It was clearly a great brand with a great watch, but like team 7-ELEVEN people didn't just take that at face value.  Tag Heuer had to put in a lot of time and effort to get where they are today.

What Watch Did The Cannibal Wear?

Cycling is a passion of mine.  And while I think it is great that there are technological advancements, and that more and more people are following the Tour de France, I find myself wishing for an earlier time.  A time when there was no such thing as "specializing" in the Tour de France.  In other words, the very idea of riding a somewhat "kinder, gentler" schedule was anathema.  Riders like Merckx, Moser, Hinault?  They'd call it candy-assed.

So while modern day cyclists seem to have a strange attraction to the Breitling B55... 

I personally want to know what the men who wore wool and rode steel would have put on their wrist.  

And I finally have a bit of an answer -

Courtesy of Rodania

It would seem that on more than a few occasions, Mr. Merckx wore a Rodania.

Shamelessly borrowed from Ebay

So while today's water carriers prefer an antenna equipped wristwatch, the all time champion wore a Rodania.

Andy Hampsten

So the 2013 Giro D'Italia has begun.  It is 25 years since Andy Hampsten rode out the ONLY US winner in the history of the race.

http://m.si.com/2905478/during-a-snowy-stage-of-the-88-giro-andy-hampsten-rode-into-history/

Let's keep our fingers crossed and hope that some watch company out there is ready to step-up and help commemorate this!

We need to remember things like this -

An Open Letter to Tag Heuer

Dear Tag Heuer,

I'd like to open this letter by saying that I think you are fantastic!  You were the first Swiss watch I ever owned - I bought one of the rubber strapped Formula 1 models in 1990 - the year I graduated from the University of Oregon.  I loved that watch!  It was stainless steel with a green rubber strap and a red bezel - just like the ones my heroes on team 7-Eleven wore.  And one of my greatest heroes was Andy Hampsten - the first (and I believe still only) American winner of the Giro d'Italia.

Courtesy of others

So what?  What's the big deal?  Well, thank you for asking.  This year - 2013 marks the 25th anniversary of Andy Hampsten's historic win.

So what?  What was so remarkable about that?

Well, in the best of times, cycling is conducted in normal, sane, rational conditions.  You watch the Tour de France on tv - sunny, fields of sunflowers, a summer jaunt.  But now, let's talk about the Giro - as my uncle would say - a whole 'nother smoke!

Imagine a 3 week race.  That's pretty hard to get your head around.  But now factor in that this is the Giro - a race that prides itself on being a bit tougher than the tour.  The Tour is somewhat predictable - time trial, flat stages, gentle climbs, then the Pyrenees or the Alps (or vice versa).  But the Giro - forgive my French, but the Giro is a Bitch Goddess!  Like the girl you dated in college who might borrow your car to go meet an ex boyfriend - and drive the car into a ditch, getting a limo ride home and leaving you to call AAA on her behalf from 100 miles away.  Like dating that girl way out of your league, you know better, or at least you should know better.  You shouldn't get involved -but you just can't help yourself.

Enter Andy Hampsten.

On what should have been a normal late spring day, he rode with his teammates and competitors into a frozen hilltop.  In this particular instance these men were chased up the Gavia Pass by the hounds guarding the gates of hell itself.  Keep in mind, this was before the days of index shifting and a GAZILLION gears.  12 gears if you were lucky.  They rode through a blizzard of sorts.

And here is where real character lies.  Several riders abandoned - all of the sane people who surely knew better.  But Mr. Hamspsten continued on.  In the end, there were a few left upright.  Andy Hampsten was one of them.

In the era of Lance Armstrong, and cynicism, I am profoundly grateful that someone out there like Andy Hampsten conquered the Gavia Pass and the Giro d'Italia with a bike that in 2013 we consider an antique, with performance enhancing substances like hot tea - and GRIT!

So what does this have to do with Tag Heuer?  Simple - Tag Heuer was one of the sponsors of the 7-Eleven team back in the 80s and 90s - Andy Hampsten's team.  And he represents what is good, pure and honest in athletic endeavor.  So Tag Heuer - honor this champion!   Here is a TRUE ambassador for a watch company - for your company.  A man, alone, challenging the elements, and winning the race of truth.

Enjoy your watches.  

Giving Stuff Away

Perhaps one of the best parts of working in Public Relations is that every now and then you get called upon to give stuff away. In my first year with DOXA I got to meet one of my cycling idols - Bob Roll and present him with a DOXA SUB 1000T Divingstar - yellow of course! For those of you not up on cycling, that is Bob on the right ; )