New line will begin with limited edition handcrafted bikes commemorating Tour successes
Triple Tour de France winner Greg LeMond’s long-awaited return to bicycle manufacturing will occur this year, with the American teaming up with French frame manufacturer Time to relaunch his signature brand.
The LeMond bicycles return will begin with the release of three limited edition road bikes commemorating his Tour wins in 1986, 1989 and 1990. The handcrafted carbon fibre models will be launched at interbike, and further models and designs will be introduced longer term.
LeMond has a long history with the French company and has been in negotiations for several months to finalise the deal. An agreement was reached earlier this summer and since then LeMond Inc has worked on the details.
“My interest in the bicycle as a machine, with its design, details and innovative possibilities, never went away after I retired from racing in late 1994,” LeMond said today. “For a time I lost my creative outlet, but like form coming back to a rider who was weakened, I have rediscovered my creativity and passion for the bike.
“I’ve travelled the world, observing carbon fabrication in more detail than ever before, and I’ve refined my ideas. When I landed in Vaulx-Milieu, France to meet with Jean Marc Gueugneaud and Roland Cattin of Time Sport International earlier this year, I had done my due diligence. I spent countless hours traveling, sitting in meetings and standing on factory floors, but I saved Time for last for a reason: I would now be able to view everything they were doing through a discerning eye.”
LeMond considered several options, in terms of which company to go with, and ultimately decided that the French frame manufacturer was the right choice.
He first met Gueugneaud almost three decades ago; while with Look, the Frenchman built a carbon fiber bicycle for LeMond and his La Vie Claire teammate Bernard Hinault in 1985. He then left the company and launched TVT, a custom carbon fiber manufacturer, which provided soles for Time shoes and also made bikes for LeMond, Pedro Delgado and Miguel Indurain.
In all LeMond won three Tours and one world championship on TVT framesets.
The American used own-branded frames prior to the end of his career, and built up the company after his retirement. It was eventually bought by Trek, but he and that company had a falling out when LeMond was critical of Lance Armstrong’s association with the doping doctor Michele Ferrari.
The relationship eventually ruptured and ended up in the courts, although recent history has shown that LeMond’s concerns were well founded.
Now, after focussing on the LeMond Revolution indoor trainer for several years, he is ready to branch out again and to return to bicycle sales.
LeMond said that his history with TVT and Time was something he was proud of, but that he needed to ensure that Gueugneaud and Cattin had kept up to speed with things since he retired from the sport. “I needed to see how they were doing it now.” He liked what he saw. “The level of design and craftsmanship poured into their products today is unsurpassed. The balance of strength, weight, durability and ride quality in what they build puts them atop the podium as the premiere carbon constructor.
“For these reasons I have chosen Jean Marc and TIME to partner with me in my newest endeavour: the relaunch of the Greg LeMond Bicycle Company.”
The limited edition Tour de France commemoration models will be launched in Interbike next Wednesday.
LeMond will team up with Valentino Campagnolo; the Italian company will supply its 80th Anniversary Record gruppos to the LeMond line.