Bernard Hinault

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Bernard Hinault (born 14 November, 1954) is a French cyclist, best known for his five victories in the Tour de France. He won his fifth in 1985, making him only the third cyclist ever to accomplish this. The French call him Le Blaireau (the Badger).

Early career

Hinault, born in the town of Yffiniac in Brittany started his professional cycling career in 1974. His first place Tour de France achievements were in 1978, 1979, 1981, 1982 and 1985. In addition, he placed second in 1984 and 1986 and won 28 stages, of which 13 were individual time trials. The only other cyclists to have achieved five first place victories in the Tour de France are Jacques Anquetil (1964), Eddy Merckx (1974), Miguel Induráin (1995) and Lance Armstrong (2003; Armstrong also won a sixth Tour in 2004).

In the beginning of his career, he was strongly associated with Cyril Guimard, a former Gitane rider who became the directeur sportif of the Renault team. Cyril Guimard is an innovator in the practice of cycling, being one of the first coaches to adopt the periodization method, and in the design of the modern bike fit and geometry. He is often associated with the frame builder Francis Quillon of the Cyfac company. As a former rider immediately prior to becoming team director, Cyril is also known as a director who listens to his riders more than others. This last quality attracted Hinault to join Guimard's new team as soon as it was formed.

Taking Guimard's advice, Hinault didn't enter Tour de France in his first year as a professional to be able to properly prepare and win his first Tour de France the year after. He accomplished this goal and was instantly hailed as the next great French cyclist.

Victories in the Tour de France were marred by injuries; Hinault was forced to abandon the 1980 Tour de France while wearing the yellow jersey due to a knee injury and missed the 1983 Tour de France due to a knee injury. During his absence, his teammate Laurent Fignon rose to prominence by winning the Tour de France in 1983 and 1984.

Return to cycling

Disagreements with Guimard led to their separation, and later on in his career he was strongly associated with the Swiss coach Paul Koechli and the La Vie Claire superteam in the mid-1980s. Koechli pioneered the use of meditation and relaxation methods to improve training for cyclists. The success of his transformation was evident in his convincing victory in the 1985 Tour de France, where Hinault and his lieutenant Greg Lemond led the La Vie Claire team to top finishes. This was despite a crash that gave him a black eye for the rest of the race, and nearly forced him to quit. Hinault retired after the 1986 Tour de France, which was won by Greg Lemond. Despite Hinault's claim that he was supporting Lemond, Lemond claimed at the time that Hinault was being opportunistic and wanted a sixth victory despite his promise to help Lemond.

Other races

Hinault was very successful in other cycling events as well - with more than 200 professional victories over his twelve year professional career. In 1980, he won the World Cycling Championship in Sallanches, France. Hinault has won both of the other major stages races as well, winning the Giro d'Italia in 1980, 1982 and 1985, and the Vuelta a España in 1978 and 1983. He also had first place victories in one-day classics including Paris-Roubaix (1981) and Liège-Bastogne-Liège (1977, 1980). His victory in the 1980 Liege-Bastogne-Liege is particularly memorable due to the horrible snow storm that besieged the race from the start. Hinault made a solo attack and finished 30 minutes ahead of his next rival.

Le Patron

Hinault was widely considered to be the last boss of the peloton or "le Patron". He led several riders' strike to protest the split stages in the Tour de France, where the riders had to ride a stage in the morning and another one in the afternoon. He also imposed several cease-fires in the races, once stating that "there will be no attacks today because tomorrow's stage will be difficult", while he himself was wearing a black eye from an earlier crash. He was respected for his stance on the side of the riders and feared for his temperament. More than once, he got into an altercation with protesters who tried to impede the races to get more publicity.

However, Hinault was also known as a prankster. In his autobiography, he mentioned that after winning Paris-Roubaix, he told reporters that his method of preparation was watching the finish of the previous year's edition of the race on video, and invited them to come along to watch it with him. Instead of the race video, he played them a porno film instead, and laughed at their expense.

For his personality, he was nicknamed The Badger'.

Retirement

Retired from professional cycling in 1986, Hinault is now a farmer and also works in public relations for the Tour de France race organisation. He often acts as a race official, and is a common sight on the podiums at the stage finishes of Tour de France to greet the stage winners and jersey holders.

Hinault used to work for LOOK Cycles as a technical consultant. He helped develop the Look clipless safety pedal.

Professional Career

Pro Team Sponsors:

• Gitane: 1977
• Renault: 1978-1983
• La Vie Claire: 1984-1986

Notable Victories:

• Tour de France (1978, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1985)
• Giro di Italia (1980, 1982, 1985)
• Vuelta a Espana (1978, 1983)
• Grand prix des Nations (1977, 1978, 1979, 1982, 1984)
• World Road Cycling Championship (1980)
• Paris-Roubaix (1981)
• Dauphiné Libéré (1977, 1979, 1981)
• Liège-Bastogne-Liège (1977, 1980)
• Giro di Lombardia (1979, 1984)
• Flèche Wallone (1979, 1983)
• Amstel Gold Race (1981)

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