Raymond Poulidor, nicknamed "Pou-Pou", was a French professional racing cyclist, who rode for Mercier his entire career.
Thor Hushovd is a Norwegian former professional road bicycle racer. He is known for sprinting and time trialing; Hushovd is a three-time Norwegian national road race champion, and was the winner of the 2010 World Road Race Championships. He was the first Norwegian to lead the Tour de France, and first Scandinavian to win the road race in cycling world road championship. He is also the Scandinavian with the most stage wins in Grand Tours. He is widely considered the greatest Norwegian cyclist of all time. He retired in September 2014.
Laurent Jalabert is a French former professional road racing cyclist, from 1989 to 2002.
Viatcheslav Vladimirovich Ekimov, nicknamed Eki, is a Russian former professional racing cyclist. A triple Olympic gold medalist, he was awarded the title of Russian Cyclist of the Century in 2001.
Thomas Voeckler is a French former road racing cyclist, who competed professionally between 2001 and 2017, for the Direct Énergie team and its previous iterations.
Sylvain Chavanel is a French former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 2000 and 2018 for the Cofidis, Omega Pharma–Quick-Step, IAM Cycling and two spells with the Brioches La Boulangère/Direct Énergie team. His brother Sébastien Chavanel also rode as a professional cyclist. Sylvain Chavanel was noted as a strong all-rounder who won both sprints and time-trials, and was a good northern classics rider, taking 45 wins during his professional career.
Andrei Tchmil is a retired Soviet, Moldovan (1992–1994), Ukrainian (1994–1998) and Belgian professional road bicycle racer. He competed in the men's individual road race at the 1996 Summer Olympics.
Luc Leblanc is a retired French professional road cyclist. He was World Road Champion in 1994.
Laurent Brochard is a retired professional road racing cyclist from France. In 1997 he won a stage of the Tour de France and became world road champion in San Sebastián, Spain.
Olivier Asmaker is a French former racing cyclist. He was born in Savigny-sur-Orge near Paris, but spent his childhood in Rodez.
Pierrick Fédrigo is a French former racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2002 and 2016 for the Crédit Agricole, Bbox Bouygues Telecom, FDJ.fr and Fortuneo–Vital Concept teams. He was the winner of the French National Road Race Championships in 2005, and won four stages at the Tour de France.
Samuel Dumoulin is a French former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 2002 and 2019 for the Jean Delatour, Cofidis and AG2R La Mondiale teams. He now works as a directeur sportif for UCI ProTeam B&B Hotels p/b KTM.
Charly Mottet is a French former professional cyclist. He was one of the best French road cyclists of his era.
Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle is a former French professional road racing cyclist who was a specialist at one-day classic cycling races. He raced from 1977 to 1995, one of the best French riders of a generation that included Bernard Hinault and Laurent Fignon.
Didier Rous is a French former professional road bicycle racer. He competed in the men's individual road race at the 1996 Summer Olympics.
Mathieu Perget is a French former professional road bicycle racer. Perget previously competed as a professional between 2006 and 2012 for UCI ProTour teams Caisse d'Epargne–Illes Balears and Ag2r–La Mondiale. His last win of his career was the 10 day Tour du Maroc in 2013.
Marc Madiot is a French former professional road racing cyclist and double winner of Paris–Roubaix. He also competed in the individual road race event at the 1980 Summer Olympics. Retired from racing in 1994, he is now best known as the directeur sportif of Groupama–FDJ, a UCI WorldTeam. He is also known as the president of the French Ligue National de Cyclisme (LNC). In 1987, he made disparaging remarks about the sport of women's cycling, calling it ugly and unesthetic.
Stéphane Heulot is a French former road racing cyclist. Born in Rennes, Heulot wore the yellow jersey in the 1996 Tour de France during three stages. He also won the French National Road Race Championships in 1996. He was the manager of French cycling team Sojasun between 2009 and 2013. He joined Cannondale in February 2014 as the team's Performance Development Director. From 2019 to 2021, he worked as a directeur sportif for Rally UHC Cycling. In 2023, he became the general manager of UCI ProTeam Lotto–Dstny.
Marc Gomez is a French former professional road bicycle racer. Born in Rennes, he has Spanish heritage, as his parents were born in Torrelavega, Spain. He was a professional from 1982 until 1989.
