LeMond Bicycles steps closer to launch of carbon range

American cycling hero Greg LeMond could be back on the scene before we know it.

BRAIN reports that the three-time Tour de France winner’s bike brand, LeMond Bicycles LLC, has recently raised over $2 million in a private placement investment. The finance could bring the company closer to launching a bike line utilizing technologies developed by the 59-year-old’s other project, LeMond Carbon.

A Securities and Exchange Commission filing shows that LeMond Bicycles LLC sold securities worth $2,029,178 on July 1.

There is little information available on the details of the range LeMond hopes to produce, with the LeMond.cc website currently just consisting a mailout capture form. BRAIN reports that LeMond has confirmed to them he will be able to talk more about the company’s plans in early August.

The future launch would further LeMond’s long on-off relationship with the bike market. The Californian has ducked in and out of the business side of the sport through his career and since retiring from racing, and in 1995, licensed his name for use on bikes to Trek. The partnership ended acrimoniously in 2008 after Trek closed the deal, saying LeMond “has done and said things that have damaged the LeMond brand and the Trek brand as a whole.” The Tour star and double world champion took the case to court, with Trek agreeing to pay $200,000 to 1in6.org, a charity supported by LeMond.

LeMond Bicycles LLC and LeMond Carbon operate beneath parent company LeMond Companies LLC. Since its foundation in 2016, LeMond Companies has raised $18.6 million of seed capital from individual and institutional investors, according to a company statement in 2019. The business is reported to be relocating its operations from Oak Ridge to West Knoxville as it prepares to launch into the market.