Renault-Elf K-W- Miniature cyclists

Laurent Fignon

Renault was a French cycling team from 1978 until 1985. In 1978, the team was founded. The Renault car group had bought the bicycle manufacturer Gitane. Like this, Renault became the sponsor of the team Gitane-Campagnolo led by the Frenchman Cyrille Guimard. Guimard was a former French cycling champion. The team had the young and very promising rider Bernard Hinault. The team rode with Gitane bicycles. The other important names in the team: Laurent Fignon, Greg Lemond, Marc Madiot, Yvon Madiot, Charly Mottet, Jean-René Bernaudeau, Martial Gayant, Lucien Didier, Pascal Jules, Pascal Poisson and Pierre-Henri Menthéour.

The co-sponsors:
1978-1978 Renault-Gitane-Campagnolo
1979-1980 Renault-Gitane
1981-1982 Renault Elf-Gitane
1983-1985 Renault Eleven

Renault-Gitane was the team name from 1978 to 1980. From 1981 to 1985 it was Renault-Elf. Elf was an oil company and part of the Renault car group. Between 1978 and 1983, the team dominated with Bernard Hinault. It won with Hinault 4 times the Tour of France, 2 times the Vuelta and 2 times the Giro. Hinault also won small stage races and also 1 day races, including Liege-Bastogne-Liege, Paris-Roubaix, the Tour of Lombardy, Amstel Gold Race and the World Championship in 1980.

Guimard also engaged a few American cyclists, including Greg LeMond the future winner of the GC in the Tour of France. In the Dauphiné Libéré of 1981, LeMond made an big impression with his 3rd place behind Hinault. 

Bernard Hinault left Renault at the end of 1983 for La vie Claire. The reason was that another rider in the team namely Laurent Fignon won the Tour de France and became the new leader. Greg LeMond also got a higher status in the team because he won the World Championship in 1983. The year after in 1984 Fignon finished second in the Tour of Italy. He also won the National Champion of France and winner of the Tour of France.

The teal’s dominance started to decrease in 1985 due to the knee injury of Fignon and also because Greg LeMond left the team for Hinault's team La Vie Claire. After the season 1985, the Renault car group withdrew from sponsorship in the peloton. The new sponsor of Guimard's team was the French supermarket Système U.

The most important victories of the team:
1978 Tour de France (Bernard Hinault)
1978 Vuelta (Bernard Hinault)
1978 Grand Prix des Nations (Bernard Hinault)
1978 French championship on the road (Bernard Hinault)
1978 French Championship cyclo-cross (Jean-Yves Plaisance)
1979 Tour of Lombardy (Bernard Hinault)
1979 The Walloon Arrow (Bernard Hinault)
1979 Tour de France (Bernard Hinault)
1979 Tour of Lombardy (Bernard Hinault)
1979 Dauphiné Libéré (Bernard Hinault)
1979 Grand Prix des Nations (Bernard Hinault)
1979 French championship on the road ( Roland Berland)
1979 French Championship cyclo-cross (André Wilhelm)
1980 Liege-Bastogne-Liege (Bernard Hinault)
1980 Giro (Bernard Hinault)
1980 World Championship on the road (Bernard Hinault)
1980 French championship on the road (Pierre-Raymond Villemiane)
1980 French Championship cyclo-cross (Alex Gerardin)
1981 Paris-Roubaix (Bernard Hinault)
1981 Amstel Gold Race (Bernard Hinault)
1981 Tour de France (Bernard Hinault)
1981 Dauphiné Libéré (Bernard Hinault)
1982 Giro (Bernard Hinault)
1982 Tour de France (Bernard Hinault)
1982 Tour of the future (Greg LeMond)
1982 Grand Prix des Nations (Bernard Hinault)
1982 French Championship cyclo-cross (Marc Madiot)
1983 The Walloon arrow (Bernard Hinault)
1983 Tour de France (Laurent Fignon)
1983 Vuelta (Bernard Hinault)
1983 Dauphiné Libéré (Greg LeMond)
1983 World Championship on the road (Greg LeMond)
1983 French Championship cyclo-cross (Martial Gayant)
1984 Tour de France (Laurent Fignon)
1984 Tour of the future (Charly Mottet)
1984 French championship on the road (Laurent Fignon)
1984 French Championship cyclo-cross (Yvon Madiot)
1985 Paris-Roubaix (Marc Madiot)
1985 Grand Prix of the Nations (Charly Mottet)
1985 French championship cyclo-cross (Yvon Madiot)

Laurent Fignon
The Frenchman Laurent Fignon, with glasses and blond ponytail as his trademark, started his professional career in 1982. A year later, at the age of 22, he won the Tour de France for the first time and repeated his success in 1984. Between 1983 and 1993, he participated ten times in the Tour de France and finished the race to Paris six times. He won a total of nine stages. In the Tour de France of 1989 he was second.

In addition to his successes in the Tour, Fignon also won the Giro d'Italia in 1989 and many classic one-day races. He finished second in the 1984 Giro. In the Vuelta he was on the podium in 1987 with a third place.

His most notable participation in the Tour was his second place in 1989, when he lost the Tour to Greg LeMond by only eight seconds. LeMond had taken over the leader's yellow jersey in the fifth stage, Fignon took over from him in the tenth stage. After the 15th stage, LeMond was in the lead for two days before Fignon regained the jersey on the 17th stage. The difference between the two in the GC was never more than one minute. For the last stage, a time trial from Versailles to Paris, Fignon was 50 seconds ahead. LeMond finally won the time trial by 58 seconds and the general classification by eight seconds.

Fignon was caught on doping twice in his career. In 1987 he was tested positive for amphetamines during the Grand Prix de Wallonie and was disqualified. In September 1989 he was suspended because of a positive doping test after a team time trial in Eindhoven.

After his career, Fignon was co-commentator for the French television in the Tour de France.
In 2009 the news came that Fignon had cancer. Fignon died in 2010 from the consequences of his illness in his hometown Paris. He was buried in the cemetery of Père Lachaise.

His teams:
1982 - 1983 Renault Gitane
1984 - 1985 Renault Eleven
1986 - 1988 System U
1989 - 1989 Super U-Raleigh
1990 - 1991 Castorama
1992 - 1992 Gatorade Chateau d'Ax
1993 - 1993 Gatorade

His most important victories:
1983 general classification Tour of France
1983 White jersey Tour of France
1984 French road champion, Elite
1984 Winner of the mountain classification Tour of Italy
1984 general classification Tour of France
1986 Walloon Arrow
1988 Milan-San Remo
1989 Milan-San Remo
1989 general classification Tour of Italy
1989 general classification Round of the Netherlands

Discover our other miniature cyclists as well.