Hinault enjoys Pogacar but harsly criticizes the French ahead of the Tour de France: "It should have motivated them"

After arriving in Paris as the Tour winner in 1985, Hinault never expected to remain the last French winner for so long. “I would never have bet a cent on that. Back then, we never even asked ourselves these kinds of questions because a Frenchman always won the Tour at regular intervals: Jacques Anquetil (1957, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964), Lucien Aimar (1966), Roger Pingeon (1967), Bernard Thévenet (1975, 1977), Laurent Fignon (1983, 1984), and myself (1978, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1985).”

“It’s a terrible realisation, but it’s inevitable: there are no great champions left in France who can win the Tour,” Hinault said bluntly. The last Frenchman who came close was Laurent Fignon, who in 1989 finished eight seconds behind Greg LeMond. The winner from four years earlier was brutally honest: “After that, we gradually stopped seeing ourselves as possible Tour winners and handed the baton over to others.”

Hinault not only won the Tour five times, but also claimed three Giro d’Italia titles and two Vuelta a España victories. He sees that countries around the world have overtaken the French and has been critical of this for years. France didn’t like hearing it, but: “Complaining is a sign of weakness. It should have motivated them to prove me wrong. I’m not making anything up when I say their results in the Tour are below par,” said “The Badger.”

“When you compete in top-level sports, you want to win. For years, I haven’t had that impression when I hear the French announce their goals at the Tour start: aiming for a top 10 finish in the general classification,” Hinault continued, citing the adulation of David Gaudu from Groupama-FDJ as a telling example. “Gaudu’s fourth place in the Tour in 2022 was treated as if he had almost won. That hasn’t helped him aim higher afterwards, because in France he had already received almost all the praise usually reserved for a winner.”

Due to the lack of quality among French riders, Hinault sees only one solution: “Who is forcing them to ride the Tour de France? There are so many other beautiful races to win. Julian Alaphilippe should have been an example for many French riders. If he has such a palmarès, it’s because he never focused solely on the Tour. We have very strong puncheurs who can win classics. So why aim for a top 10 in the Tour, when everyone forgets that placing immediately?”

The winner of races like Paris-Roubaix and the Amstel Gold Race does, however, enjoy seeing upcoming young talent. Could someone like Paul Seixas (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) revive the old glory days? “Let him first win the Tour de l’Avenir. It’s difficult to judge the maturity of today’s champions,” Hinault remains cautious. “It was great to see him race the Critérium du Dauphiné this year. I don’t see why he couldn’t ride the Tour next year. He’ll be 19 and can learn everything there.”

Eddy Merckx, Jacques Anquetil, Miguel Indurain, and Bernard Hinault are the current joint record holders for Tour victories. Each of them won the race five times. With three victories already and at the young age of 26, Hinault foresees that Tadej Pogacar will surpass his record. “He’s not far off anymore. He is very impressive. I hear here and there that it’s starting to get boring seeing him win so much, but it’s not his fault that others can’t knock him off his pedestal, is it?”

Hinault thoroughly enjoys watching Pogacar and challenges others to beat him. “If you look at Pogacar, he’s ridden five Tours and won three (2020, 2021, 2024), but he’s also lost two. He knows both experiences. The hardest thing is to refocus and start again with the mindset that you want to win the Tour. But he also goes into the Tour with the idea of having fun for three weeks, and in that, I see myself in him a bit. I too felt like I was having fun, not working.”

However, Hinault warns there is a danger for Pogacar. “He could just as well crack and suffer a backlash from his success. He has absolute confidence in himself and never shows the slightest sign of fatigue, but staying at the top this way also makes him vulnerable. We’ve seen plenty of others who ended up victims of burnout.”