Thompson is a Belgian family business which was set up in 1921 by Hector De Smet in the town of Geraardsbergen. This small town in the heart of Flanders is of course the home of the “Muur van Geraardsbergen”, a famous hill that was part of the course of the Tour of Flanders from 1973 up to 2011. After the founding of Thompson they immediately started in-house production of steel bicycles from scratch. From engineering, design, welding, painting to assembly, everything was done in-house. Thompson quickly became well known in the region for its high-quality standard and great design, while maintaining a reasonable price for this level of quality.