Mavic Rescued Tour de France Riders. Who Rescued Mavic?

What happened to Mavic? For more than forty years, when a Tour de France rider punctured, a yellow Mavic car stopped – for any team, any rider. Then in 2020 a court in Grenoble sold the whole company to a family best known for hardware stores, and within months the yellow cars were gone. This is the story of how the French wheel maker that rescued thousands of riders ended up needing a rescue itself: the 1934 duralumin rim, the borrowed car at the 1972 Dauphiné that created neutral service, Greg LeMond's 8-second Tour win, years inside Salomon, Adidas and Amer Sports, the confusing sale to Regent and a Delaware company, receivership, the failed bid backed by Bernard Hinault, the Bourrelier takeover – and why even the rescue couldn't bring the old Mavic back. Chapters 0:00 The yellow cars that helped every rider 0:51 Lyon, 1889: how Mavic began 1:46 One borrowed car and the birth of neutral service 2:51 The wins: Kelly, LeMond, Boardman, Cosmic 3:30 Losing control: Salomon, Adidas, Amer Sports 4:31 The numbers: €130M to €70M in four years 5:14 Regent and the Delaware question 6:41 Receivership 7:08 The Tour legend vs. the hardware family 8:30 Why the yellow cars disappeared 9:09 The rescue that looked like it might work 10:17 The factory closes 11:16 What really went wrong Sources (selection): Cyclingnews (receivership May 2020; new owners July 2020), road.cc (how did it come to this; bidders), Bicycle Retailer (Amer Sports Sept 2018; Shimano neutral service Jan 2021), Paris-Nice official site (Shimano neutral support 2021), Cycling Weekly (icons of cycling: Mavic neutral service), Lyon Capitale (regional grant 2022), Transition Vélo (factory closure Nov 2024), AMF/DILA filings of the Bourrelier Group (2020, 2026). This video uses AI-generated voice and some AI-generated illustrations. Statements attributed to staff representatives are reported as they appeared in the press. #Mavic #TourDeFrance #Cycling #BusinessHistory