When I got home, I pulled out my copy of Tour de France/Tour de Force: A Visual History of the World's Greatest Bicycle Race, by James Startt, to see if I could identify the figure on the Mercier seat tube. I humbly concur with Messrs. Ross, Anderson, and Schmidt that the figure is Raymond Poulidor.
This demonstrates a remarkable difference between American and French business and social cultures. I may be cynical, but I don't think our Madison Avenue-types or corporate execs would ever allow one of their products to be tagged with anything less than a "maillot jaune" champion. We tend to live in an all or nothing society.
Unfortunately for Poulidor, his remarkable 15 year career was bracketed (and eclipsed) by the likes of Jacques Anquetil and Eddy Merckx. He burst onto the scene with a third place finish in his very first tour in 1962, which he was able to repeat fifteen years (!) later in 1976. In between, he had two second place finishes ('64 & '65) and four more third place finishes ('66, '69, '72, & '74). The French Poulidoristes cherished "Pou-Pou" as the perennial underdog who always seemed poised for victory (in '64, he came in only 55 seconds behind the winner, Anquetil).
He demonstrated incredible stamina and "heart" during those fifteen years, and the Mercier execs seized upon this in marketing their brand. It would be interesting to see if Mercier sales statistics during this timeframe bear this superficially counter-intuitive business decision out.
Vive la difference!
Ian Kersey