Gan-Mercier K-WB - Miniature racing cyclists

Raymond Poulidor and Cyrille Guimard

Mercier was a French cycling team in the peloton for a long time: from 1935 to 1984. Between 1972 and 1976 Gan was the main sponsor, and the jerseys were white with light blue and dark blue.

An overview of the sponsors:
1935-1953 Mercier-Hutchinson
1954-1969 Mercier-BP-Hutchinson
1970-1971 Fagor-Mercier-Hutchinson
1972-1976 Gan-Mercier-Hutchinson
1977-1978 Miko-Mercier-Hutchinson
1979-1981 Miko-Mercier-Vivagel
1982-1983 COOP-Mercier-Mavic
1984-1984 COOP-Hoonved

The most famous riders:
Cees Bal, Barry Hoban, Christian Raymond, Christian Seznec, Cyrille Guimard, Eddy Peelman, Georges Talbourdet, Gerard Moneyron, Gerard Vianen, Gerrie Knetemann, Jacky Mourioux, Jean-Pierre Genet, Joop Zoetemelk, Maurice Le Guilloux, Raymond Poulidor, Regis Delepine, Yves Hézard and Yves Ravaleu.

In the period of Gan, Cyrille Guimard was the man for the stage tours. In 1971 he had won the points classification and also the combination classification in the round of Spain. In the Tour de France of 1972 he was second in the classification until the penultimate day. But then he was forced to quit the race due to an injury. In that tour Guimard's teammate Raymond Poulidor finished third in the general classification. The Tour de France would be won that year by Eddy Merckx. Guimard won the general classification in the Midi Libre in 1972 and became French cyclo-cross champion in 1975. Unfortunately, Guimard's persistent injury affected his career and led to an early end to his career.

Poulidor couldn't win the Tour at all, but he was on the podium very often. That would give him the nickname "the eternal second". Poulidor was unlucky that in his career one rival was always better than him. In the first period of his career this was Jacques Anquetil, and after him, it was Eddy Merckx. But the underdog can usually count on a lot of sympathy from the public. Poulidor was extremely popular. His other nickname was "poupou". But still Poulidor could win. In 1972 and 1973 he defeated Merckx and Joop Zoetemelk in Paris-Nice and won the general classification. In 1973 he also won the general classification in the Midi-Libre. Poulidor finished 8 times on the podium in the Tour de France. In 1976 he rode his last Tour. In the period before Gan was the main sponsor, Poulidor had triumphed in Milan-San Remo (1961), French Championship (1961) and the Walloon Arrow (1963). In the stage races he had won the general classification in the Dauphiné Libéré (1966 and 1969) and also the general classification in the Tour of Spain (1964). Raymond Poulidor is related to the Dutch former cyclist and cyclo-cross rider Adrie van der Poel.

He's the father-in-law. As a result he is grandfather of Mathieu van der Poel. In this way he has passed on his cycling genes to the next generation.

Joop Zoetemelk joined the team in 1974 and stayed with the team until 1980. In 1974, 1975 and 1979 he won Paris-Nice and in 1979 the Vuelta a España.

Other great wins in classic races were for Cees Bal (Tour of Flanders in 1974), Georges Talbourdet (Champion of France in 1974) and Gerrie Knetemann (Amstel Gold Race in 1974).

Discover also our other miniature cyclists.