Vintage Poster Archives
Cycles Peugeot 1907 | Mich Vintage Cycling Poster
Cycles Peugeot 1907 | Mich Vintage Cycling Poster
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A caricatured racing cyclist erupts from a golden eight-pointed star, trailing a sweeping comet of yellow and purple bands across a deep violet sky. Each arc of the tail carries a race name in arching script: Tour de France, Paris-Roubaix, Grand Prix de Paris, Championnat du Monde, Paris-Bruxelles, and four further titles. To the right, a rotund caricature figure with an oversized globe-like head stands beside his bicycle, visibly stunned. The copy reads: in 1907 a glorious comet made the universe go cross-eyed, and it was that of Cycles Peugeot.
Designed by Michel Liebeaux, signing as Mich, and commissioned by Les Fils de Peugeot Freres Constructeurs of Valentigney in the Doubs, the poster marked one of the most successful seasons in early professional cycling. Lucien Petit-Breton won the Tour de France for Peugeot-Wolber in 1907, Georges Passerieu took Paris-Roubaix following the world's first organised team training camp, and Peugeot riders dominated the national championship programme. Liebeaux (1881-1923), born in Perigueux and trained in Nantes, was among the most prolific sporting caricaturists of the Belle Epoque, producing posters for cycling and automobile brands throughout the 1900s and 1910s.
The comet conceit is well-chosen: it conveys velocity, trajectory, and a sweep of accumulated victories in a single graphic move. The deep purple ground and saturated golden-yellow comet tail give the lithograph a heraldic weight typical of the finest French cycling poster production of that era.
Reproduced as a giclée print on 200gsm Enhanced Matte Fine Art Paper, restored from an archival source.
