The deck is composed of 60 cards, 12 families of 5 cyclists, grouped by their actual astrological sign. Why should anyone think of grouping cyclists, of all people, by their astrological sign is something that escapes my comprehension. Maybe that is why some rather unknown riders are included; maybe not too many champions are born under certain signs.

 

Bélier (Aries) 1 Defilipis 2 Strehler 3 Behouee 4 Proost 5 Fornara	Taureau (Taurfus) 1 Darrigade 2 Planckaert 3 Pauwels 4 Battistini 5 Ruegg	Gémeaux (Gemini) 1 Adriaensens 2 Graczyk 3 Scodeller 4 Stablinski 5 Elliott	Cancer 1 Thomin 2 Le Buhotel 3 Dejouhannet 4 Brankart 5 Pipelin	Lion (Leo) 1 Hassenforder 2 Graf 3 Bauvin 4 Gainche 5 Sabbadini	Vierge (Virgo) 1 Gauthier 2 Rolland 3 Mahé 4 Vermeulin 5 Couvreur
Balance (Libra) 1 Busto 2 Forestier 3 De Bruyne 4 Favero 5 Delberghe	Scorpion 1 Le Dissez 2 Robinson 3 Ruby 4 Mastrotto 5 Beuffeuil	Sagittaire 1 Hoevenaers 2 Van Looy 3 Simpson 4 Gaul 5 Everaert	Capricorne 1 Anquetil 2 Janssens 3 Anglade 4 Hoorelbecke 5 Rostollan	Verseau (Acuarius) 1 Baldini 2 Cazala 3 Desmet 4 Rousseau 5 Manzaneque	Poissons (Piscis) 1 Riviere 2 Bobet 3 Poblet 4 Nencini 5 Cieleska

 

The information on the back of the cards includes the results of the riders up to 1960. Rick Van Looy, for instance, was World Champion in 1960 and 1961, but his card only features the first title. He also won important spring races at the beginning of the 1961 season (among them Paris-Roubaix and Liege-Bastogne-Liege). So the game is quite easy to date since it was made after the end of the 1960 season (that is quite sure) and most probably before the beginning of the 1961 races. Therefore, it is quite safe to date the game to (the early months of) 1961.

 

There are at least four different editions of these cards, as you can see by the different backs. The two cards on the left are both Rick Van Looy's. One of them (the one on the left, maybe the first edition) did not include the cyclist's name on the back, and did not depict a distinctive zodiac sign, as is the case with the other three backs. Even though three of the four must have been later reprints, nobody bothered to update the cyclists' results. And, of course, the astrological "information" does not change for the riders of the same sign, as you can see in the two cards of the Sagittarius family,

 

 

For the record, these were my original five cards

Here is my all-time favourite rider. By the way, Poblet was not born in "Moncado" (which does not even exist), but in Montcada. Since the official name of the town at the time the deck was made was "Moncada" (the Catalan "t" missing, courtesy of Spain's fascist regime), that is probably what was meant to be written on the card. Unless, of course, someone made a deliberate mistake to avoid the fascist-imposed town denomination. Not really likely, but I would like to think this could be the cause of the misnomer.

 

 

 

While I am (re)writing this review I learn that Gilbert Desmet has passed away, aged 93. According to most sources, he was born on February 2nd, not 3rd, as stated in this card, but still under the sign of Acuarius. If you compare the results listed on the card with his actual achievements, you will find, at least, that it is a strange choice of results. (Desmet won Paris-Tours in 1958; that was his most important result at the time this game was released). The conclusion is that you should not believe what you read on these cards, neither the top part nor the bottom, if you know what I mean.

Description rewritten in July 2024.