Eddy Merckx Team Panasonic

Sometimes you are lucky. Like I was, when a friend of mine offered me this spectacular Eddy Merckx Team Panasonic bike. It belonged to former pro Johan van der Velde, probably one of the most talented cyclists we have ever had in the Netherlands. He used this Eddy Merckx during the 1986 tour the France, wore the yellow jersey for 2 days that same year and also won the 6th stage to Villers-sur-Mer on this bike, as you can see in this video here.

Van der Velde was one of the better climbers we have known in Dutch cycling history. In his debut year he makes a smashing impression by successively winning the final rankings of the Tour of Romandia, the Tour of the Netherlands and the Tour of England. He turns out to be a gifted driver, who can not only ride the best in the high mountains, but also has a good final sprint.

The Eddy Merckx Corsa Extra bikes are probably one of the most sought after models of the well known manufacturer Eddy Merckx. Back in the late 80's Eddy Merckx started to produce the famous Corsa Extra frames and this one here is custom made for Johan Van der velde. A lot of Professional teams used these particular frames. Not only Panasonic but also the Motorola team (Lance Armstrong), Telekom, Kelme and ADR belonged to Eddy Merkcx's clientele.  Contrary to what most people want you to believe, this bike is a real team bike and also has a unique frame number, in contrast to the normal production models :) JV 4 86. The real deal! Enjoy the pics..