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Stella was a French bicycle manufacturer founded in Nantes in 1909 by the Fonteneau family and run by the family until the company’s demise(?). The name “Stella” is a tribute to the founder’s mother who encouraged the enterprise.
The company sponsored a racing team in the 1940s and 1950s, with their star rider being Louison Bobet with the first two of his three consecutive Tour de France wins on a Stella.
Jean Bobet in his book ‘Tomorrow We Ride’ (‘Demain, on roule’) describing his first professional contract, wrote: “Stella, my employer, was a Nantes-based firm that manufactured bicycles and sewing machines. The company supplied me with equipment and spares, chiefly tyres, albeit extremely sparingly”.
Stella Bicycles: