De geschiedenis van Gitane fietsen

The French brand Gitane is one of those names that could invariably be spotted in the cycling peloton in the 2nd half of the last century. Riders such as Jean Stablinski, Rudi Altig and top riders such as Jacques Anquetil, Bernard Hinault, Laurent Fignon, Greg Lemond and even our own Lucien van Impe have made history with it and Gitane has won the Tour de France no less than 11 times.

Bernard Hinault in the yellow jersey during the Tour de France on a Gitane Profile

Unfortunately, Gitane such as Peugeot, Mercier, Legnano, ... has also disappeared from the cycling peloton and has been replaced by the larger multinationals such as Giant, Trek, Cannondale, ...

The start of Gitane

In 1925, the French businessman Marcel Brunelière decided to exchange the sale of agricultural machinery parts for the sale of bicycle parts and the assembly of bicycles for G.M.B. and Marbru.

Not shortly afterwards, Brunelière saw the potential of the bicycle market and founded his own brand Gitane, which means something like a gypsy. Apparently it was his wife who came up with the idea because she used Gitane as a nickname for her husband who was constantly on business trips and lived as a gypsy.

At that time, his company employed 10 people, but the main activity was assembling bicycles. It wasn't until 1940 that Gitane started building frames itself.

A Gitane racing bike from 1964

The first sponsorship of cycling teams started in 1948 with the team Gitane – Stella which became Gitane – Hutchinson from 1949 to 1956. The most important rider in the team was Jean Stablinski, who gave the brand name recognition through his numerous victories.

Gitane and Jacques Anquetil

In 1963, the Saint-Raphaël-Gitane-Géminiani cycling team, which rides Gitane bicycles, attracts Jacques Anquetil. Of course this is a commercial move that immediately results in success because the sales of Gitane bicycles are increasing. Anquetil wins his 4th and 5th Tour de France on a Gitane bike, making him the first cyclist to succeed.

With the oil crisis in the 1970s, bicycle sales in general continue to rise with Gitane record sales in 1972 of 185,000 bicycles.

Team Renault with Hinault, Fignon and Lemond

In 1974 the French car brand Renault buys 30% of Gitane and buys it completely a few years later. It does not take long before the name Renault can be seen on the cycling jerseys in the cycling peloton. In 1978 the team Renault – Gitane was founded with Cyrille Guimard as sports director.

Willy Teirlinck, among others, is part of it, but the most important name is Bernard Hinault who immediately wins the Tour de France in 1978. He does it again on a Gitane bike in 1979, 1981 and 1982.

In 1983, 2 other clappers joined the team, namely Laurent Fignon and Greg Lemond. Fignon wins the Tour de France in 1983 and 1984 and Lemond becomes world champion in 1983. Both on a Gitane bicycle.

The Decline of Gitane

A difficult period started for the bicycle industry from the mid-eighties. Fewer bicycles are being sold just about everywhere in Europe and competition from Taiwan is getting tougher. Moreover, the results are not forthcoming which causes Renault to sell Gitane.

In order to compete (and survive), Peugeot, Gitane, Puch and the Spanish BH, among others, group together and form the Cycleurope group in 1992. 8 eight years later, the Swedish holding company Grimaldi Industri buys both Cycleurope and the Italian Bianchi, but the production of racing bicycles now belongs only to Bianchi. An era seems to have passed.

Gitane Delta from 1990

The last sponsorship of the Pro Tour team Big Mat ends in 2003, before that Gitane sponsored La Francaise des yeux from 1997 to 2002.

After being out of the running for a while, Gitane is making racing bikes again today. Sponsoring of Pro Tour cycling teams is currently not possible. The question is whether this will still happen in the future, I highly doubt it.

All teams sponsored by Gitane from 1948 to 2003 can be found on the following link dewielersite.net > Gitane