Gitane - Tour de l’avenir
Classic French brand’s homage to a revered amateur race
Cycles Gitane rst started making bicycles under their own name in 1930, although the founder, Marcel Brunelière, had been making bike parts and frames that were sold under the G.M.B and Marbru brands since the mid1920s. Gitane, which translates as ‘gypsy woman’, was closely associated with the French racing scene from the 1960s to the late 1980s and many illustrious names rode bikes made by the brand.
ey sponsored Lucian Van Impe (1974-1976), Bernard Hinault (1975-1983), Laurent Fignon (1982-1988), and Greg Lemond (1981-1984). But the high point undoubtedly came when they sponsored
Jacques Anquetil from 1963 -1965, a period that resulted in two Tour de France victories.
is bike, photographed at Golden Age Cycles, is a Tour de l’avenir model from 1976, featuring Reynolds 531 tubing, chrome-plate lower fork legs, honeycomb pattern rear dropouts, Mafac ‘Racer’ brakes and a Simplex rear derailleur. Notice too its ‘Drillium’ chainset, perhaps a nod to its British ownership.
e bike’s name was inspired by the Tour de l’avenir race, which translates as Tour of the Future. e race started in 1961 as a stage race similar to the Tour de France, but aimed at amateurs or semiprofessional riders. It is still running today but as an under-23 race ridden by national teams. A ve-day women’s edition launched last year.
Gitane bicycles were rst imported into the United States in 1958. ey were among the rst European racing bicycles to be regularly imported and as such formed an important part of the bicycle boom of through the ’60s and ’70s.
Steel and aluminum-framed Gitanes are still built in the factories in Machecoul, France (the site of the original Gitane factory), as well as at the Cycleurope facility at Romilly-surseine (the old Peugeot factory), while all-carbon bikes are built in Asia.