Mercier was ooit één van de grootste Franse wielermerken en tot 1984 ook een vaste waarde in de wereld van het professionele wielrennen. Eén naam die onlosmakelijk met het merk verbonden is, is die van de eeuwige tweede Raymond Poulidor die zijn ganse loopbaan op een Mercier fiets reed.
Raymond Poulidor on his Mercier
But not only Poulidor rode for Mercier, also other well-known names such as Antonin Magne (first as a rider and then as a sports director), Rik Van Steenbergen, Marcel Kint, Raymond Impanis, Fred De Bruyne, Joop Zoetemelk, Sean Kelly and Cyrille Guimard
The founding of Mercier
Mercier was founded in 1919 by Emile Mercier, together with his brothers Marcel and Constant. Initially they produced parts for pedals, but Emile soon bought out his brothers and started producing bicycle frames. By 1930 the activity had expanded to full production of bicycles.
The former Mercier factory
Om de verkoopcijfers de hoogte in te jagen werd in 1933 het eerste Mercier team gevormd, in samenwerking met Francis Pélissier en de bandenproducent Hutchinson. Vanaf 1935 tot 1969 was Mercier zelfs hoofdsponsor en tot aan zijn einde in 1984 cosponsor.
Below are some of the teams Mercier sponsored:
- Mercier – Hutchinson: from 1935 to 1953
- Mercier – BP – Hutchinson: from 1954 to 1969
- Fagor – Mercier: 1970 and 1971
- Gan – Mercier: from 1972 to 1976
- Miko – Mercier – Hutchinson: 1977 and 1978
All teams that rode a Mercier bike can be found on the following link > Mercier teams
Onder de sponsoring van Mercier werden tal van successen behaald. De eerste grote zege was de Tourzege in 1937 van Roger Lapébie, in 1955 werd dit overgedaan door Louison Bobet.
The iconic Purple shirt
De meesten associëren Mercier met de paarse kleur die vanaf 1946 in de koerstruitjes en de frames werd gebruikt. De gele boord en mouwtjes werden toegevoegd in 1950.
Recently, in 2021, 2 years after the death of Raymond Poulidor, his grandson Mathieu van der Poel paid tribute to this exceptional cyclist. For his 1st participation in the Tour de France in which his grandfather shone so many times, the Alpecin Fenix team wore a modern version of the mythical jersey.
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The sponsorship and success of Raymond Poulidor, among others, ensured that Mercier bicycle sales reached a peak in the 1970s with sales of no fewer than 150,000 bicycles in 1975.
Since the 1980s, the rise of Asian countries has become unstoppable and, as with other well-known historic bicycle brands, sales collapsed, with the sad result that Mercier filed for bankruptcy in 1985. Immediately the end of a glorious period.
The return of Mercier
Good news for fans of the historic brand, because since 2019 Mercier has been in the hands of a Luxembourg holding that is once again launching Mercier bicycles. The series Raymond Poulidor and Joop Zoetemelk, among others, are released.
Below are some more photos of steel Mercier racing bikes
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