With the Tour De France underway, Bridgeman Art has chosen to feature a wonderful selection of cycling-themed imagery for its latest picture post.
This would make a great calendar for all those avid bike riders; cycling is now the dominant mode of travel on central London’s roads so there are plenty of potential consumers out there. So popular is cycling, in fact, that The Telegraph has declared it to be the new golf, saying that its suddenly cool to wear lycra!
Never have the roads of Britain been so full of cyclists: 6.8 million people now cycle once a month, representing an increase of 1 million in four years, according to British Cycling.
Sir Bradley Wiggins might be injured right now and unable to take part in this year’s Tour de France, which started on June 28, but he certainly set the pace and stimulated interest in this fantastic sport. Chris Froome, Wiggins’s team-mate and rival, is now favourite to win one of the world’s toughest sporting events. Go Team GB!
Images from top to bottom are: Handlebars of Bicycle, Mann, Robert (20th century) / Private Collection / © Special Photographers Archive / The Bridgeman Art Library
The Cycle Race (oil on canvas), Jonas, Lucien Hector (1880-1947) / Musee d’Art et d’Industrie, Roubaix, France / Giraudon / The Bridgeman Art Library
Poster advertising ‘Fernand Clement’ bicycles (colour litho), Pal (Jean de Paleologue) (1855-1942) / Musee de l’Ile de France, Sceaux, France / Giraudon / The Bridgeman Art Library
