THE RISE & FALL OF MAVIC

Since the late 1800s Mavic has grown into one of cycling’s most recognised brands, but now it is on the brink. Owen Rogers charts how the iconic French firm came to this

- Owen Rogers

The shadow of the peloton is bright yellow. It emerges through the dust of another dry Paris-Roubaix; it glints in the sunshine of the Côte d’Azur at Paris-Nice, and fords through the crowds lining another torturous Tour de France mountain pass.

Mavic’s neutral service cars have become so ubiquitous at cycling’s biggest races, so tightly woven into the sport’s fabric, that to imagine it without them feels a little like trying to summon up the unnatural. And yet it is distinctly possible this will soon be the case.

The French giant’s famous service course has rescued countless champions, winners, and domestiques from certain doom over the last 40 years, but right now it is in dire need of help as it finds itself in a financial hole from which there may be no escape.

Just last month, the French courts put Mavic into receivership and under its supervision. Bernard Hinault – one of those to have benefited from Mavic’s service – is part of a group trying to help the company. Those close to attempts to save the company know there is a mountain to climb and, like the pros it helped on the roadside, it’s now or never if it’s to get back in the race.

But how did this happen? How did it go from a small family-owned business in the 19th century to global dominance to now knocking on the door of destitution? And is there any hope for the future?

Multiple innovations

Mavic’s signature yellow may make it a perfect fit for the Tour, but it has been around a lot longer than the association between the two. The first record of it is in 1923, but the company, now based in Annecy in the French Alps, dates back further to 1889 when two companies were brought together by their president, Henry Gormand.