 | |
| Industry | Sports equipment |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1951 |
| Founder | Jean Beyl |
| Headquarters | , |
Key people | Bernard Tapie |
| Products |
|
| Website | lookcycle.com |
Look is a French sports equipment manufacturing company based in Nevers that has led the innovation of alpine skiing quick-release binding systems. The company later moved into cycling with innovations in clipless pedals and carbon fiber frames. [1] The Look logo was inspired by Piet Mondrian paintings.
In 1948, engineer and inventor Jean Beyl, who owned a rubber manufacturing company, broke his leg skiing whilst wearing a rigid ski binding, which then brought him into the fledgling safety binding business. [3] In 1950, Beyl invented the Look Nevada dual-pivot ski binding system. [4] The following year the Look company was founded, named after the American magazine Look. [3] The 1962 Look Nevada II single-pivot ski binding design was the main influence for the company's bindings over the next 40 years. [4]
Following Beyl's early designs of a clipless bicycle pedal, in 1983, Look was bought by French businessman Bernard Tapie, who created the professional cycling team La Vie Claire the following year. [3] The first clipless pedals released by Look were the PP65. [5] With the La Vie Claire team, Bernard Hinault won the 1985 Tour de France using PP65 pedals, helping secure the acceptance of clipless pedal systems which remains in widespread use today. [5] [6] At the 1986 Tour, Greg LeMond rode a "Bernard Hinault" Signature Model Look prototype for his win of the race. [7] Look's pedal designs have been a source of inspiration for rival manufacturers ever since. [8]
Look started manufacturing carbon bike frames in the late-1980s. [5] In June 2016, Activa Capital became a majority shareholder in the company, together with Dominique Bergin and Thierry Fournier. [9] [10]
The top-tier professional cycling teams sponsored by Look include Kelme–Costa Blanca, Crédit Agricole, CSC–Tiscali, [11] and Cofidis. [12] Second-tier Continental cycling team Fortuneo-Oscaro rode Look bikes from 2015 to 2018. [13] As of 2019, Look Cycle is sponsoring team Nippo–Delko–One Provence. [14] [15]
Gregory James LeMond is an American former road racing cyclist. LeMond won the Tour de France thrice and the Road Race World Championship twice, becoming the only American male to win the former.
Bernard Hinault is a French former professional road cyclist. With 147 professional victories, including five times the Tour de France, he is often named among the greatest cyclists of all time. In his career, Hinault entered a total of thirteen Grand Tours. He abandoned one of them while in the lead, finished in 2nd place on two occasions and won the other ten, putting him one behind Merckx for the all-time record. No rider since Hinault has achieved more than seven.
The pedal is the part of a bicycle that the rider pushes with their foot to propel the vehicle. It provides the connection between the cyclist's foot or shoe and the crank allowing the leg to turn the bottom bracket spindle and propel the bicycle's wheels. A pedal usually consists of a spindle that threads into the end of the crank, and a body on which the foot rest is attached, that is free to rotate on bearings with respect to the spindle.
The 1985 Tour de France was the 72nd edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It took place between 28 June and 21 July. The course ran over 4,109 km (2,553 mi) and consisted of a prologue and 22 stages. The race was won by Bernard Hinault, who equalled the record by Jacques Anquetil and Eddy Merckx of five overall victories. Second was Hinault's teammate Greg LeMond, ahead of Stephen Roche.
La Vie Claire was a professional road bicycle racing team named after its chief sponsor La Vie Claire, a chain of health food stores.
Cycling shoes are shoes purpose-built for cycling. There are a variety of designs depending on the type and intensity of the cycling for which they are intended. Key features include rigidity, for more-efficient transfer of power from the cyclist to the pedals, weight, a method of attaching the shoe firmly to the pedal and adaptability for use on and off the bicycle. Most high-performance cycling shoes can be adjusted while in use, via a quick-adjusting system that has largely replaced laces.
LeMond Racing Cycles is a bicycle company founded by Greg LeMond, the only American winner of the Tour de France except for Lance Armstrong, the 7 times winner of The Tour de France..
Arkéa–B&B Hotels is a UCI WorldTeam cycling team based in Rennes, France. After the team won enough points during the 2020–2022 seasons, the team was promoted from its prior status as a UCI ProTeam and now has automatic entry into all UCI World Tour races. Prior to 2023, the team participated in UCI Continental Circuits races and UCI World Tour races when receiving a wild card.
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The 2018 Paris–Roubaix was a road cycling one-day race that took place on 8 April 2018 in France. It was the 116th edition of the Paris–Roubaix and the fifteenth event of the 2018 UCI World Tour.
The 2018 La Flèche Wallonne was a road cycling one-day race that took place on 18 April 2018 in Belgium. It was the 82nd edition of the La Flèche Wallonne and the seventeenth event of the 2018 UCI World Tour.
The 2018 Royal Bernard Drome Classic was the 6th edition of La Drôme Classic road cycling one day race. It was part of UCI Europe Tour in category 1.1.
The 2018 Grand Prix de Fourmies was the 86th edition of the Grand Prix de Fourmies road cycling one day race. It was held on 2 September 2018 as part of UCI Europe Tour in category 1.HC.
The 2017 Grand Prix de Fourmies was the 85th edition of the Grand Prix de Fourmies road cycling one day race. It was held on 3 September 2017 as part of UCI Europe Tour in category 1.HC.
The 2016 Grand Prix de Fourmies was the 84th edition of the Grand Prix de Fourmies road cycling one day race. It was held on 4 September 2016 as part of UCI Europe Tour in category 1.HC.
The 2018 Milano–Torino was the 99th edition of the Milano–Torino cycling classic. It was held on 10 October 2018 over a distance of 200 km (120 mi) between Magenta and Turin. The race was rated as a 1.HC event on the 2018 UCI Europe Tour. The race was won by French rider Thibaut Pinot of Groupama–FDJ.
Atsushi Oka is a Japanese professional cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Continental team JCL Team Ukyo.
The 2021 season for Delko was the 47th season in the team's existence, the sixth as a UCI ProTeam, and the first under the current name. Japanese construction company Nippo Corporation, which had been a co-title sponsor last season, left the team to sponsor UCI WorldTeam EF Education–Nippo instead.
Clément Berthet is a French road cyclist and former cross-country mountain biker, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam Decathlon–AG2R La Mondiale.
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