Gilbert Gutowski
Four generations of Gilbert Gutowski's family have been connected by the bicycle. Today, he uses a lifetime shaped by France, racing and the cycling industry to help Bikestyle guests create stories of their own.
In 1994, Gilbert Gutowski sat perched forward on a beanbag in front of a tiny television, completely absorbed by the Tour de France highlights on SBS. Marco Pantani attacked on Hautacam. Miguel Indurain caught him. Then, through the mist, Frenchman Luc Leblanc launched his winning move in the final kilometre.
Gilbert remembers the Festina jersey, the enormous gear and even the perfect loft of Leblanc's cycling cap. More importantly, he remembers how his own bike felt different afterwards. "This was no longer just riding a bike," he says. "This was cycling."
The road from that Brisbane living room would take Gilbert into elite racing in Australia and Europe, a career representing some of cycling's best-known brands, and more than 16 years with Bikestyle Tours. Yet his story began before that television broadcast and even before he was born. It is a family story stretching across four generations, from a bicycle shop in Montluçon to the roads of the Tour de France and, now, to his two daughters discovering the same freedom on two wheels.
The Road To Bikestyle
Gilbert's great-uncle owned a bicycle shop in Montluçon, the French town where Gilbert's father was born. His father raced too, and as a child Gilbert spent hours turning the pages of old newspaper clippings, photographs and cycling memorabilia from that career.
His father knew firsthand how difficult the sport could be and tried to steer him away from it. It did not work. After university, which Gilbert describes as the "Plan B", he spent several seasons living and racing in France and Belgium. He returned to the region where his father had been born and raced, competed in many of the same events and placed the Gutowski name on some of the same results sheets.
The family connection remains tangible. Gilbert's grandmother still lives in Montluçon, and the building that once housed his great-uncle's bicycle shop is now home to another family business. Today, Gilbert watches his daughters find their own enjoyment on bikes. The same simple machine has connected four generations across two countries and very different periods of time.
Between Two Cycling Worlds
Gilbert has spent his life moving comfortably between Australian and French cycling. Despite the unmistakably Australian voice, he can suddenly switch to fluent local French, often surprising guests and occasionally helping the group negotiate its way past a roadside complication.
The language is only one layer. Gilbert raced at elite level in Australia and Europe, so he can explain tactics, team strategies and the changing shape of a race from experience inside the bunch. After racing, he moved into the bicycle industry, first managing retail teams and later becoming a Territory Manager representing some of the world's most recognised cycling brands.
That work involves different businesses, clients, expectations and personalities every day. It has taught him to listen, adapt quickly and understand that the same experience will mean something different to every person in a group.
His contribution continues beyond Bikestyle. Gilbert has served as a Ride Captain with TRACTION for Young People, helping prepare riders for its annual 800-kilometre charity challenge, and is Director Sportif with the QLD Cycling Foundation McCarthy Homes team, helping young riders compete in the ProVelo Super League.
Why it matters on tour: Gilbert brings race knowledge, cultural understanding and a career built around people. He can explain what is happening in the peloton, find a good meal away from the tourist traps, solve a problem in French and recognise when somebody needs help. Just as importantly, experience has taught him when to step back and let a guest discover the moment for themselves.
Please Pass Le Pepper
Some tour stories begin on famous climbs. Others begin over dinner with a simple request for seasoning.
A few years ago, Gilbert was sitting at the table listening to Bikestyle mechanic Paul chat with guests about the day's adventures. Gilbert has known Paul for more than 20 years and describes him as an outstanding mechanic, one of the friendliest people you could meet and someone who will always go above and beyond to help a guest.
There is, however, one area where Paul's talents do not extend quite as far: the French language.
When a guest asked Paul how to say "pepper" in French, he did not hesitate. With a completely straight face and absolute confidence, Paul replied, "Le Pepper."
He then continued the conversation as though he had supplied the perfectly correct translation rather than the actual French word, poivre.
Gilbert nearly spat his Perrier across the table.
The moment could easily have disappeared among hundreds of tour dinners, but some jokes are simply too useful to let go. To this day, whenever Gilbert and Paul sit down for a meal, someone will eventually ask Paul to pass "Le Pepper".
It is a small story, but one that captures something important about life on tour. The famous mountains and race days may bring everyone together, but often it is the unexpected moments around the dinner table that become part of the group's shared language and are remembered for years afterwards.
A Reminder From Lyon
In 2023, Gilbert returned to France for the first time since 2019. He arrived in Lyon a day before the Bikestyle team and, with a few hours free, built his bike and went exploring.
On the way back, he remembered the hotel water was due to be switched off around midday. Wanting a shower before the team arrived, he took a shortcut along a bike path. One moment he was riding peacefully, the next he was chest-down on the tarmac.
At first, Gilbert was more annoyed about missing the shower than worried about the damage. Only when his cheek began swelling and he could not fully open his jaw did a hospital visit seem sensible. The diagnosis was three fractures through his cheekbone and facial structure, with a nerve crushed below his eye. Instead of beginning the tour, Gilbert was arranging flights back to Australia and surgery.
After more than 30 years on a bike, it was a blunt reminder that experience never makes a rider immune to accidents. Gilbert tells the story with typical understatement, and a simple lesson: hold the bars a little tighter on a bike path.
Experience can give us knowledge, it also gives us perspective. One of the best things I have realised I can give is actually when not to share everything I know.
Life On Tour
Gilbert enjoys discovering each guest's reason for being on tour. One person may want to complete a bucket-list climb, another wants to collect a team bottle in a feed zone, while somebody else simply wants to reach the summit as quickly as possible. Everyone shares the same itinerary, but nobody arrives with exactly the same story.
He learned that quickly when he arrived at Bikestyle straight from European racing, with his head and legs still in race mode. Guiding asked him to shift the focus away from his own performance and towards what each guest hoped to experience.
One favourite memory is supporting two best mates who dreamed of riding Alpe d'Huez together. Torrential rain could not change their minds. Gilbert and their partners followed in the support vehicle as the temperature fell to four degrees near the top. The riders arrived soaked and smiling, then described it over dinner as one of the best experiences of their lives.
Gilbert compares a guide's day to a duck on a lake, calm on the surface but paddling hard underneath. His favourite moment comes on the Tourmalet, when the summit opens into view and guests realise what they are about to achieve. Later, if the dinner table is so full of stories that nobody can hear themselves think, he knows it has been a great day.
Gilbert's Advice
Just keep pedalling. As long as you are moving forward, you will get there.
Gilbert believes a strong rider does not automatically make a great guide. "It's all about the people," he says. The job is to understand what somebody needs that day, offer the right support and recognise when it is time to let the moment speak for itself.
Quick Spin With Gilbert
Off The Bike
Gilbert admits that a perfect day is never quite perfect if it does not involve a bike. When he does step away from cycling, fishing and guitars compete for his attention, although finding enough time for either is another matter.
His guitar collection includes his father's late-1970s Japanese-made Takamine acoustic, one of the so-called "lawsuit" models closely resembling a Martin, and a 2013 Fender John Mayer Signature Stratocaster. He plays, modestly by his own assessment, and would love to become better.
What makes him proudest has nothing to do with a results sheet or a bicycle: raising two wonderful daughters. His favourite place is Chamonix Mont-Blanc, made more special because it is where he asked his wife to marry him.
What Gilbert Brings To Bikestyle
Gilbert, or "Gilber" as we like to call him, is simply one of the nicest people you'll ever meet. He has a quiet nature and never needs to tell you how good a rider he is. Don't let that fool you though, get on a bike with him and he's still quite capable of ripping your legs off.
I'd seen Gilbert riding around Brisbane before we actually met, but strangely enough, our first proper meeting was in France in 2010. It was my first tour as a Trip Leader and the former owner of Bikestyle told me not to worry, "Gilbert will look after you." Sixteen years later, I think that says a lot about him.
One of my clearest memories from that first tour was Hautacam. We woke to pouring rain, thunder and lightning, so made the sensible decision to skip the ride and head to Pau. One guest, however, had Hautacam firmly on his bucket list.
We drew straws to decide which guide would accompany him, and Gilbert was the unlucky one. I remember telling the guest that Gilbert would ride with him to the base, but we strongly recommended giving the climb itself a miss.
Gilbert being Gilbert, he rode the whole thing with him.
Up Hautacam they went, through pouring rain, fog and cold, because this guest had travelled all the way to France with a dream of riding that mountain. Gilbert stayed with him and made sure he got there safely.
That is Gilbert.
He's a great family man, a great rider and someone who genuinely looks after people. After 16 years working together, he's also become an amazing friend. When Gilbert is on a Bikestyle tour, I know our guests are in very good hands.
Owner, Bikestyle Tours
Ride With Gilbert
Gilbert most often works with Bikestyle at the Tour de France and Tour Down Under, bringing French fluency, racing insight, adaptability and more than 16 years of experience looking after our guests.
