The story
Founded by Edmond Gentil in 1890.1
Origins
Alcyon originated from about 1890 when Edmond Gentil started the manufacture of bicycles in Neuilly, Seine. In 1902, this was complemented by motorcycle production and in 1906, the first cars were shown at the "Salon de l'Automobile" in Paris, France. Also in 1906 it founded the professional Alcyon cycling team which was active until 1955, including winning the Tour de France 6 times.
Trophée Gentil (1946-1963)
In 1946, the "Gentil Trophy" was created in memory of the founder of Cycles Alcyon, who died that year. It was awarded for the "achievement of the year", and took the form of a work of art created by Carlo Sarrabezolles. Each National Federation expressed its choice and the winner had to obtain 70% of the votes to obtain this honorary title.
List of winners
1946: Émile Masson
1947: Fausto Coppi
1948: Briek Schotte
1949: Reginald Harris
1950: Ferdi Kübler & Hugo Koblet
1951: Prize not awarded
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1952: Fausto Coppi
1953: Jacques Anquetil
1954: Louison Bobet
1955: Stan Ockers
1956: Ercole Baldini
1957: Roger Rivière
1958: Charly Gaul
1959: Rik Van Looy
1960: Jacques Anquetil
1961: Jean Jourden, Henri Belena & Jacques Gestraut
1962: Jo de Roo
1963: Jacques Anquetil
The company also gave its name to a race, the Grand critérium Alcyon, open to independent and aspiring riders under U.V.F. regulations.
From Wikipedia’s article on Alcyon, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4