Gitane (bicycle manufacturer)
| Gitane | |
|---|---|
| legal form | SAS |
| founding | 1930 |
| Seat | Romilly-sur-Seine, France
|
| Branch | Cycles |
| Website | http://www.gitane.com/ |
Gitane is a French bicycle manufacturer whose production facilities are now in Romilly-sur-Seine . The brand name "Gitane" is derived from the French word for " gypsy ".
Between the 1960s and 1980s in particular, the Gitane brand was closely tied to French professional cycling. During this time, the company equipped drivers such as Jacques Anquetil (1963–1965), Lucien van Impe (1974–1976), Bernard Hinault (1975–1983), Laurent Fignon (1982–1988) and Greg LeMond (1981–1984). Today the Gitane brand belongs to Grimaldi Industri through Cycleurope SAS .
Company history
The origins of Gitane can already be found in 1925, when Marcel Brunelière opened a forge for tools and agricultural supplies near Machecoul, not far from Nantes in the Loire-Atlantique department . In his forge, he gradually began to produce bicycle parts. In 1926 he opened a bicycle assembly workshop for GMB and Marbru.
Brunelière started assembling his first bicycles himself in 1930 and chose the brand name Gitane for them. In the 1950s, the product range was expanded to include light motorcycles. The company name was changed to Micmo in 1960, but the Gitane brand name continued to be used for the company's bicycles. In 1974, the French motor vehicle manufacturer Renault acquired a third of the shares in Micmo , only to take over the company completely in 1976.
In 1985, Micmo was finally sold again by Renault. The company was finally integrated into the Cycleurope group in 1992 in cooperation with Peugeot and the Spanish bicycle manufacturer BH in order to withstand market pressure, especially from Asia. Eventually Cycleeurope became part of the Grimaldi Group.
The Machecoul factory still produces Gitane bikes for the French market.
Sponsorship
The first professional cyclists were equipped by Gitane in 1948. From 1953 to 1955 the Jean Stablinski company provided equipment . In 1960 Rapha-Gitane-Dunlop and Rudi Altig were supported. In 1963 and 1964 Jacques Anquetil was able to win the Tour de France on Gitane.
In the 1970s, Renault sponsored its own cycling team under the name Renault-Gitane and equipped it with the company's Gitane brand. Among others, Lucien Van Impe, Bernard Hinault, Laurent Fignon and Greg Lemond drove on Gitane: They all won the Tour de France.
Gitane also equipped the teams Système U (led by Laurent Fignon), RMO (led by Charly Mottet ) and Toshiba (led by Jean-François Bernard ).
In the 1990s, the Gitane brand was also active as a sponsor in the mountain bike sector.
After a few years of absence, Gitane returned to professional cycling as a sponsor and supported the teams La Française des Jeux (cycling team) and Big Mat-Auber 93 . In 2010 Gitane made the new Definitive Gitane "The One" ISP model available to the Saur-Sojasun team . Gitane frames and wheels are only sold in Europe. The aluminum and steel frames are still produced in the founding town of Machecoul and in the Cycleurope plant in Romilly-sur-Seine. The frames made of carbon fiber reinforced plastic , on the other hand, are manufactured in Asia.
Palmarès
Along with Pinarello , Peugeot, and Trek Bicycle Corporation, Gitane is one of the most successful brands in the Tour de France. The Tour of France was won nine times on a Gitane racing bike . In addition, three world championship titles in road racing and three hourly world records have been achieved as significant achievements on Gitane.
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Tour de France
- 1963, 1964 (Jacques Anquetil), 1976 (Lucien Van Impe), 1978, 1979, 1981, 1982 (Bernard Hinault), 1983, 1984 (Laurent Fignon)
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World Championship
- 1958 ( Elsy Jacobs ), 1980 (Bernard Hinault), 1983 (Greg LeMond)
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Hour record
- 1957, 1959 Roger Rivière , 1958 Elsy Jacobs
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Gitane USA - History. Retrieved June 18, 2017 (English).
- ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from September 30, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
