After further research, I'm not so certain about my answer that Mercier never won the TdF. Wikipedia says that riders from the Mercier team won the 1937 and 1955 TdF. That would be Roger Lapebie and Louison Bobet. But in those years the TdF was contested by national teams, so technically the Mercier team did not win. I don't know if either Lapebie or Bobet was riding a pink Mercier while competing on the French national team. Anyone know if the TdF riders used the bikes provided by their trade teams when riding for national teams? In Bobet's case it is possible he rode a Louison Bobet frame as I believe he did much of his career - don't know who made those. It was also mentioned that Mercier founder Emile Mercier long sponsored Andre Leducq who won the Tour in 1930 and 1932, in the national team era. But it was also said the Mercier team started in 1935. Don't know if Mercier might have sponsored Lequcq individually in his winning years or whether he rode a Mercier. Evidently there was a long, bitter and public feud between Emile Mercier and Henri Desgrange over Desgrange once leaving LeDucq off the French team for the TdF.
This seems the perfect reseach project for Aldo. Aldo can you delve into those archives of yours and dredge up some photos of Leducq and Lapebie in their winning TdF's and of Bobet in the 1955 Tour? We may not be able to tell if the bikes were pink, though, in those black & white photos.
Regards,
Jerry Moos
Big Spring, Texas, USA
> From: Jerome & Elizabeth Moos <jerrymoos@sbcglobal.net>
\r?\n> Subject: Re: [CR] Mercier ???
\r?\n> To: "Classicrendezvous" <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>, "Amir Avitzur" <avitzur@013.net>
\r?\n> Cc: "Nick March" <nicbordeaux@yahoo.fr>
\r?\n> Date: Saturday, August 15, 2009, 4:52 PM
\r?\n> This does not look even remotely like
\r?\n> a Mercier to me, in fact, I don't even think it is
\r?\n> French. Mercier pink was much brighter, and not
\r?\n> metallic like this one. And the lugs and half chromed
\r?\n> seatlug in particular look more Italin than French. In
\r?\n> fact, if the lug cutouts were circular, I would strongly
\r?\n> suspect this is a Windsor Pro, the Mexican-made Cinelli
\r?\n> clone. The manufacturers of Windsor also made bikes
\r?\n> under other labels, like Carrabela or some such. Raysports
\r?\n> were similar as well. Anyone know if these or maybe
\r?\n> later Windsors had lug cutout like those shown?
\r?\n>
\r?\n> Do you own this bike? Have you checked the BB
\r?\n> thread? I would guess it is Italian-threaded.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> As to the TdF, I don't remember Mercier ever winning it,
\r?\n> but Raymond Poulidor famously finsihed second or third
\r?\n> countless times on a pink Mercier without ever winning.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> Regards,
\r?\n>
\r?\n> Jerry Moos
\r?\n> Big Spring, Texas, USA
\r?\n>
\r?\n> --- On Sat, 8/15/09, Amir Avitzur <avitzur@013.net>
\r?\n> wrote:
\r?\n>
\r?\n> > From: Amir Avitzur <avitzur@013.net>
\r?\n> > Subject: [CR] Mercier ???
\r?\n> > To: "Classicrendezvous" <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
\r?\n> > Cc: "Nick March" <nicbordeaux@yahoo.fr>
\r?\n> > Date: Saturday, August 15, 2009, 4:14 PM
\r?\n> >
\r?\n> > Is the bike at http://www.flickr.com/
\r?\n> > Mercier?
\r?\n> >
\r?\n> > Its got
\r?\n> > a 26.0 seat post
\r?\n> > Pretty pink paint
\r?\n> > a 53cm C-to-C seat tube and has
\r?\n> > "5 3" stamped on the bottom
\r?\n> > bracket
\r?\n> > was purchased in the U.K. at an antique
\r?\n> > dealer
\r?\n> >
\r?\n> >
\r?\n> > Didn't someone win the TdF on a pink Mercier?
\r?\n> >
\r?\n> > Amir Avitzur
\r?\n> > Ramat-Gan, Israel