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Taco Bell: Greg LeMond may seem pretty dead set about winning his third Tour de France, but the acclaimed U.S. bicycle racer appears not to be practicing what he preaches when it comes to his ad campaign for Irvine-based Taco Bell Corp.

LeMond, the American who was five seconds behind Italy’s Claudio Chiappucci Friday with two stages left in the world’s most famous bicycle race, is shown in a poster at Taco Bell outlets peddling along without a protective helmet. He also rides with one hand off the handlebars so he can carry a carton of tacos.

But in small print beneath a photo of LeMond is this safety message: “When cycling, please always follow the rules of the road and wear a helmet.”

To his credit, the photo of LeMond was taken against a nice cinnamon-colored backdrop and obviously shot in a studio, not on the open road. And admittedly, the Minnesotan might be a little harder to recognize if he were shown in a hard-shell helmet--as if most people know him in the first place.

The 2-month-old “Tacos to Go” campaign got off to a shaky start when days after the company began airing TV ads, Taco Bell hastily recalled 300,000 of its special LeMond-inscribed bicycle water bottles. The recall came after the company received reports that some children had pulled off the bottles’ tiny plastic tops and could possibly choke on them. But Taco Bell has pressed on with the $12-million campaign--sans bottles.