To mark Thibaut Pinot’s last Tour de France, Geoffroy Lequatre, a former professional cyclist and designer, had the honour of designating a collector’s T-shirt “Merci Tibo” in collaboration with the association L’amicale cycliste des mille étangs, his friends and family from Melisey.
Geoffroy, who is now the designer, likes this kind of request and challenge, because he knows the world of cycling as well as Thibaut Pinot.
Designing is a passion, but how did the idea for this design come about?
That’s how it goes!
An idea, a phone call and long-standing friendships
Mathieu Converset, a childhood friend of Thibaut Pinot and founder of the milles étangs cycle shop in Melisey, the village where they grew up, made a phone call to Geoffroy Lequatre in the run-up to Thibaut’s last Tour de France. To mark the occasion, Mathieu and l’Amicale organised a day with a Geant screen during the penultimate stage of the Tour with their association “l’amicale cycliste des mille étangs” in honour of Thibaut and to get the community involved in this incredible event!
Mathieu: “And why not make a t-shirt bearing the effigy of what Thibaut represents for his fans and thank him for his career?”
The idea only took a few minutes! And the pre-order and Collector’s Edition T-shirt was created in collaboration with the association, the shop and the fans.
We asked Geoffroy a few questions about the project and how he came up with the fun T-shirt!
- 1-How do you know Thibaut Pinot?
I know Thibault from my pro cycling days, when he was a talented young rider with a bright future! I retired from the pro pelotons in 2014, and then followed his career closely! We have a mutual friend, Mathieu Converset, and we’ve always kept in touch, seeing each other on a few occasions at races and at Matthieu’s Cycles des Milles Etangs shop.
- 2- How did you come up with this creation?
It only took a few minutes when Mathieu called me! We immediately talked about Thibault, his life in the countryside at Melisey and his passion for animals!
We had to designate a sheep 🐑 a bit cool, (because I find sheep more fun than goats 🤣) sunglasses 😎 put a yellow cap on him and the results of his career in the form of a pedigree! And that was it! 😂
- 3-How did people react to this collector’s T-shirt?
Very Well ! Project have been done really quick, We then had to prepare all the visuals and samples to produce the pre-ordered shirts! The T-shirt was very popular because of its humorous nature!
Mathieu converset and the association even sent some to Eurosport to the “LEs rois de la pédales”, who proudly approached them. The fans who have bought this T-shirt are paying tribute to Thibaut and proudly wearing a collection dedicated to his career.
- 4-Have you already created other collections or products for other PRO’s or teams?
Yes, of course! And it’s always been a pleasure to do collaborations and partnerships!
I started out with my first collection for my team at the time, Agritubel!
Then I designed t-shirts for Lance Armstrong and his shop in Austin. We then launched the G4 brand and signed our first major partner with the Cannondale team, designed limited series for Peter Sagan, created Steve Chainel’s Cross team from scratch (with Mathieu Converset, by the way) and also designed collections for stages of the Tour de France and other high-profile events!
- 5- Do you think you’ll ever be able to equip a professional band with G4?
Yes, it would be a great adventure, but it would have to be relevant and forward-looking, and not just a basic partnership contract.
We’d have to see it as a brand-building and development venture with a sports group that loves textiles and the infinite possibilities offered by our favourite field: couture design”.
To do this properly I think we would need a G4 team 🤣 where everything would be allowed with no limits. “I’m talking about creation and innovation of course! “
See you soon for new adventures
