It has been 40 years since a Frenchman has not won the Tour de France. In 1985, Bernard Hinault won the big loop for the fifth and last time. Since then, no tricolor cyclist has managed to succeed the one nicknamed the “badger”. The French runners never managed to do better than a second place in the general classification, like Richard Virenque in 1997, Jean-Christophe Péraud in 2014 and Romain Bardet in 2016.
Bernard Hinault deplores the ambitions of the French on the Tour de France
This anniversary, Bernard Hinault would have gone well, as he confides in an interview published in The team this Tuesday 1is July : “Little by little, we lost the habit of seeing ourselves as possible winners of the Tour, we left the hands of others. I would have done well from this record of longevity, because we are a country of bicycle, with the most beautiful races in the world, and above all the most important, around. It is an anomaly in the history of our sport.“
Renowned for his outspokenness, Bernard Hinault goes even further in the columns of Southwest By pointing to the lack of ambition that inhabits French runners according to him: “When you do high level sports, you want to win. And for years, I do not have this impression when I hear the French announce their objective at the start of the Tour: a place in the top 10 in the final classification. I can’t stand hearing a runner saying after the finish line he had good legs.“While some peloton members have already denounced the repeated criticisms of Bernard Hinault, the latter replied in his own way:”Just complaining is already an admission of weakness. On the contrary, they should have boosted them, motivate them to show me that I was wrong. I do not invent anything when I only see that their results are not up to the tower.“
“It is better to win a step“
“We do not have the super champion who has extraordinary physical skills, like some nations,” continues Bernard Hinault. “It is sure and certain, when we look, it would be necessary that all the others fall for a Frenchman to win the tour.” The one who will celebrate his 71th birthday on November 14, estimates that the French must review their approach to the race: “Do not hesitate to go, even if it means taking slaps. If we go around, we finish 15th and no one has seen you … It is better to win a stage and finish 70th. At least we know that it was present.”
