Michel Vermeulin was runner-up in the road race at the French national championships in 1954 and won his first title, in the team pursuit, the following year. He then won his first major international medal at the 1955 Mediterranean Games with silver in the team road race. His next stop was the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, where he was 12th individually in the road race, but shared gold with the French team of Arnaud Geyre, Maurice Moucheraud, and René Abadie. He was also a silver medalist behind Italy in the team pursuit, 4,000 metres event alongside Jean-Claude Lecante, René Bianchi, and Jean Graczyk.
After winning the team road race and team pursuit events at the 1957 national championships, he turned professional in 1958 and continued to race through 1963. During that time, he competed in the Tour de France in 1959, 1960, and 1962, and wore the yellow jersey for three days during the 1959 edition.
France