La Vie Claire
Toshiba was a French cycling team, which was founded in 1984 under the name of La Vie Claire and existed until 1991.
Foundation
Founded for the season in 1984 and financially supports the team by the French entrepreneur Bernard Tapie and his diet - food chain La Vie Claire was. Athletic supervisor was the Swiss Paul Köchli. The jersey design of the La Vie Claire riders was the abstract geometric paintings of Piet Mondrian inspired.
Tapie recruited from the French star Bernard Hinault with hitherto unimaginable for cycling sums from rivals Renault - Gitane for his team. Hinault won in 1984 though, inter alia, the Tour of Lombardy, Tour 1984, but fell short of Laurent Fignon. For next season reinforced Tapie his team again and ordered Greg LeMond, the third tour in 1984, also from the Renault team. Hinault won first for the third time the Giro d' Italia before he drove out its fifth and final Tour victory. The Tour de France 1985 for triumph for La Vie Claire, with Hinault and LeMond on the first two overall places. Here, in the Pyrenees stronger acting and aggressive Americans was retained by the sporting director Koechli as part of a team orders in favor Hinaults. A year later the finish was reversed: LeMond won the Tour de France in 1986 after an exciting race course Hinault, the teammate Andrew Hampsten and Niki Rüttimann completed with the fourth and seventh triumph La Vie Claire.
Toshiba
1987 La Vie Claire was replaced as the main sponsor of the Japanese electronics company Toshiba. However, the Toshiba team to its successes of La Vie Claire not match: Hinault had his career ended in late 1986, LeMond fell after a heavy hunting accident in the long run and eventually switched to ADR Agrigel. Also the organizational success duo of La Vie Claire, the sports director Paul Köchli and the millionaire team boss Bernard Tapie, Toshiba abandoned after the 1987 and 1988 season.
The most important success Toshiba was the third place Jean -François Bernard's Tour de France in 1987 after winning the uphill time trial to Mont Ventoux. 1991 Tony Rominger won the Paris-Nice stage race in the autumn of the same year the young Laurent Jalabert second in the road bike world championship behind Maurizio Fondriest was. After the 1991 season, Toshiba ended its involvement in cycling.