Bic - Miniature racing cyclists

Luis Ocaña

Bic is a French cycling team, active from 1967 to 1974. The team was in that period one of the best teams in the Tour de France. The most Important cyclists were the Spaniard Luis Ocaña, the Portuguese Joaquim Agostinho, the Frenchman Jacques Anquetil and the Dutchman Jan Janssen.

The company Bic is known from the BIC, in other words the ballpoint pen. Who doesn't know it? It is one of the brands that became so popular that the brand name is seen as a generic name. BIC does not only manufacture ballpoint pens. Also razors and lighters are produced by this French multinational since 1945.

In addition to the above mentioned drivers, these riders once wore the Bic jersey in the peloton: Alain Santy, Alain Vasseur, Arie den Hartog, Charly Groskost, Edward Sels, Eric Leman, Gerben Karstens, Jean Ronsmans, Jean Stablinski, Leif Mortensen, Lucien Aimar, Raymond Steegmans, René Pijnen, Roger Rosiers, Sylvain Vasseur, Willy Van Neste and yes Jean-Marie Leblanc. Jean-Marie Leblanc would later become director of the Société du Tour de France.

In the early years, the team leader was Jacques Anquetil. The team then drove with the logos Bic and Hutchinson. At Bic-Hutchinson, Anquetil had a number of other class riders in his team. Including Lucien Aimar, who won the 1966 Tour de France, and also Jean Stablinski. The team was led by Raymond Louviot and Raphaël Geminiani.

After 2 years, in 1969 it was Maurice De Muer who replaced Raphaël Geminiani. New riders joined the team, and others left the team. Jan Janssen, who had won the Tour de France in 1968, came to the team. Jacques Anquetil stopped with professional cycling, and Aimar would leave the team. In 1970, the team was joined by Luis Ocaña. Luis Ocaña became the leader and a rival of Eddy Merckx. He fought with the cannibal several times a fierce battle in the Tour de France. But Merckx was too strong. Only in 1973 Ocaña managed to win the Tour. Eddy Merckx did not participate that year. In 1973 another big rider, Joaquim Agostinho, would come to the team.

Co-sponsorships:
1967-1967 Bic-Hutchinson
1968-1974 Bic

Greatest victories:
-1967: Amstel Gold Race (den Hartog), Four Days of Dunkirk (Aimar), Criterion International (Anquetil)
-1968: Paris-Nice (Wolfshohl), championship of France (Aimar), Boucles de l'Aulne (Anquetil).
-1969: Four Days of Dunkirk (Alain Vasseur), Tour of the Basque Country (Anquetil)
-1970: Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré (Ocaña), Tour of Spain (Ocaña)
-1971: Troffeo Barrachi time trial (Mortensen and Ocaña), Paris-Roubaix (Rosiers)
-1972: Tour of Flanders (Leman), GP Fourmies (Pain), Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré (Ocaña)
-1973: Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré (Ocaña), Tour of Belgium (Mortensen), Tour de France (Ocaña)
-1974: Tour of the Haut-Var (Karstens)

Discover our other miniature cyclists as well.