<![CDATA[Peugeot team rider (1962-1973) --> Ferdinand Bracke]]> https://www.velo-pages.com/main.php?g2_itemId=39410 en-us Gallery 2 RSS Module, version 1.1.7 Fri, 29 Mar 2024 05:16:39 -0600 120 https://www.velo-pages.com/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=39428 <![CDATA[Peugeot team rider (1962-1973) --> Ferdinand Bracke]]> https://www.velo-pages.com/main.php?g2_itemId=39410 <![CDATA[Ferdinand "Ferdi" Bracke (1963)]]> https://www.velo-pages.com/main.php?g2_itemId=41791 https://www.velo-pages.com/main.php?g2_itemId=41791
In his second year as a professional cyclist, Ferdinand "Ferdi" Bracke would pair with Walter Boucquet to ride the 2-up team time trial Trofeo Angelo Baracchi which was held in November of 1963. Bracke is seen here participating in that very event where he and Boucquet would ultimately place third behind the teams of Joseph Velly / Joseph Novales and Jacques Anquetil / Raymond Poulidor.
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R.S. Broderick photo Tue, 02 Aug 2011 16:10:36 -0600
<![CDATA[Ferdinand "Ferdi" Bracke (1974)]]> https://www.velo-pages.com/main.php?g2_itemId=41171 https://www.velo-pages.com/main.php?g2_itemId=41171
A publicity card from 1974 showing Peugeot-BP-Michelin team rider Ferdinand "Ferdi" Bracke. And while it may be true as noted on the face of this card that he at one time did hold the World Hour Record title, Bracke’s 1967 feat was eclipsed but one year later by Ole Ritter and then again in 1972 by fellow Belgian and former Peugeot-BP-Michelin teammate Eddy Merckx. Also of curious note, by the time that this publicity card was actually issued, Bracke had left Peugeot-BP-Michelin and signed on with the Watney’s racing team.]]>
R.S. Broderick photo Sun, 17 Jul 2011 03:04:27 -0600
<![CDATA[Ferdinand "Ferdi" Bracke (1967)]]> https://www.velo-pages.com/main.php?g2_itemId=39425 https://www.velo-pages.com/main.php?g2_itemId=39425
Peugeot-BP-Michelin teammates Ferdinand "Ferdi" Bracke and Eddy Merckx would pair with one another to win the 2-up team time trial Trofeo Angelo Baracchi in both the 1966 and 1967 seasons. And in a strange twist of fate, it would be his fellow Belgian and former teammate Merckx who would claim the World Hour Record title for himself in 1972, eclipsing Ole Ritter’s 1968 distance by 0.778 kilometers and Bracke’s 1967 run by 1.338 kilometers.

This photograph also serves as what I believe to be an instructive contrast between the prototypical Peugeot-BP-Michelin team issue PX-10 of this era (...Bracke’s bicycle) as opposed to a custom built Faliero Masi masquerading as a Peugeot (...i.e. Merckx’s). Eddy Merckx has written quite publicly that he rode a stock Peugeot PX-10 throughout 1966 and the early months of 1967, but after having become disenchanted with the performance of that model, he elected to have Faliero Masi build a “Peugeot type” bicycle using Nervex Dubois lugs which was subsequently painted and decaled in Peugeot-BP-Michelin team livery for use throughout the latter half of 1967. Based upon the particulars in evidence here (...the lack of chrome on the rear stays and front fork, no contrasting Black paint on the lugs, horizontal slots in the bottom bracket shell, and a Masi decal located underneath the lower Peugeot chequerboard seat tube band), the bicycle shown to the right of this photograph would be a Merckx’s pseudo Peugeot built by Masi and not an actual PX-10. Of course, beyond the frameset itself, there are at least a few other differences between the two team bikes including Merckx’s choice of Universal brake levers paired with MAFAC Racer calipers as opposed to an all MAFAC combination, and fitment of a Campagnolo Record model 1039 headset rather than the typical Stronglight P3 component seen on Bracke’s bike.]]>
R.S. Broderick photo Sun, 17 Jul 2011 03:18:04 -0600