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This frame was ridden during the 1985 season by Andy Hampsten when he was on the Levi's Raleigh domestic team. Andy has one of the most storied careers of any American cyclist. He is still the only American to win the Giro d'Italia which he did in 1988. The most memorable moment of that Giro was Andy's ride over the Passo di Gavia during a bone chilling snowstorm. Andy also won the Tour of Romandie, twice the Tour of Switzerland, and twice finished 4th at the Tour de France which inclued a stage win in 1992 on the famed Alpe d'Huez. After talking to Andy, we believe this frame was built for Raleigh by the Canadian framebuilder Marinoni. It features the trademark red and black paint scheme, Raleigh stamping on the seatstays and bottom bracket, and the Raleigh USA decals including Andy's name. The frame came to us from Michael Fatka of Michael's Cyclery in Ames, Iowa which was home to the Skunk River Cyclists to whom the postcard on the following page was sent by Andy during the 1985 Giro. Michael had an association with Team Raleigh and had quite a collection of Raleigh memorabilia. Andy is now selling a namesake line of custom road frames that can be viewed and purchased by visiting www.hampsten.com.
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