This juicy advert claims that 'during the hardest mountain stages' of the 1948 Tour de France Gino Bartali used a Simplex double chainwheel and Simplex front derailleur. Gino Bartali was the poster child of Campagnolo - so this is an explosive claim. It also raises the issue of the rear derailleur. How, exactly, would a Simplex front derailleur work with a Campagnolo rod-type rear derailleur system?

(Source gallica.bnf.fr/ Bibliothèque nationale de France)

• Publisher: Route et Piste
• Country: France
• Date: July 1948
• Derailleur brands: Simplex
• Derailleurs: none