MAPEI – GB Musette Bag – 1996/1997 – Last One!

Nothing better than the real thing!

This musette is 100% race used. It has scuff marks that look like a rider tossed it aside on the road and/or a team assistant collected it after a feed zone and stuffed it into the team’s follow-car. We obtained this directly from the Mapei team around 1998/99 after GB was no longer a team sponsor and the team was open to offloading anything with Mapei/GB branding. For some reason, real Mapei musettes were never easy to find, even back in the day.

Originally, we had a small stack of these little gems. No more. We have precisely two and we are keeping one for our collection. We saved the best for last and are offering it at the same price as the prior ones we have dribbled out over the years. Enjoy!

The Musette: A Simple Cloth Bag and Icon of Cycling

We see riders wrapped in spare tubes with goggles firmly in place, carrying the unmistakable fabric food bag from bicycle racing’s earliest photographs. This simple but vital musette bag takes its name from the nose-bag often seen hanging around horses’ necks.

Getting food and water to riders has always been a tricky but crucial part of racing.  In the early days, to supplement what a rider could carry in a musette, bars and cafes were often raided by riders leaving bills for race organizers to settle later. Formal feed zones were introduced to racing in 1919, but riders still had to stop to take on provisions from large tables. By the 1950s, the random cafes and tables of food began to be replaced by team staff on the side of the road handing off the musettes to riders who did not need to stop and risk losing valuable time. As cycling technology advances, with innovations like radios and wireless shifting, the proven and straightforward musette bag remains a vital method to get food and drinks to riders in the peloton.

In the early days, musettes were not available for fans to purchase.  They were highly prized and collected, especially when a favorite brand or race was featured.

Size: 15 1/8 x 11 1/2 inches ( 38.5 x 29 cm)

Please Note: Bag does have some stains and discoloration.

This item is one of a kind; please look carefully at the photos to determine the condition.