Bicycling caught up with Hinault in Tours, France for a look back at that fascinating era.
Bicycling: What do you remember about when the first Americans came to race in the Tour de France?
Bernard Hinault: Well, it was new, that’s for sure, because there had been no one before them. First there was Jonathan Boyer and then came Greg. Greg, of course, was different, because he’d had some very promising results as an amateur. That is why we went to get him.
You actually traveled to the States to recruit him, you and team director Cyril Guimard. That was pretty rare, wasn’t it, for a rider of your stature to travel across the Atlantic to recruit a young neo-pro?
Yeah, I went over to Reno in 1980, but it just seemed normal to me. You know, I already knew that I would stop one day or another and that I needed to find someone capable of replacing me. Greg was one of those riders with the potential to do that. But it was important to meet him, to see if we could get along and work together. Today it is just the managers that do that. But it seemed logical to me to go over, if for nothing else [than] to have my own word to say. If I sensed that we wouldn’t get along, it wasn’t even worth starting a working relationship. But Greg and I got along right away!
What do you remember most about that first meeting?
His joie de vivre! And the way he was down to earth. And then there was his drive; you could tell he was motivated.
Without his hunting accident, what kind of career do you think he would have had? Could he have been a five-time winner?
Oh, we will never know. Accidents are part of life. Merckx had them. I had them. Perhaps it was just his destiny.
When you examine Greg’s three Tour victories, he really had to fight for each one. Although he was the dominant rider of his generation, he didn’t dominate the race like some winners do.
That’s for sure! Against [Laurent] Fignon he really had to fight for it in 1989 and with me, too, in 1986. Nobody gave him his Tour victories.
Did he have any weaknesses?
No, he could climb and he could time trial. And he could descend, too. When we rode up the Alpe d’Huez together, first we had to drop our rival Urs Zimmerman [the third-place finisher in the 1986 Tour]. And we did that by attacking on the descent of Galibier and the Telegraphe.
Are you still in contact with Greg?
Yeah, he is coming to the Tour in a couple of days and we got together in June on Alpe d’Huez to commemorate our ride that day in 1986.
Hinault and LeMond visit during the 2002 Tour de France. (James Startt)
Your intra-team rivalry was well documented at the time. After Greg helped you win the 1985 Tour, you said you would help him win the following year. But when you took over the yellow jersey in '86, Greg felt like the tables were turned. Nevertheless, today there seems to be a real affinity between you and Greg, not to mention great mutual respect.
But it was the journalists that made up the rivalry! I gave him my word and was going to keep my word.
Well, at the time Greg was not so sure!
Yes, at the time perhaps Greg was not sure. But I was sure I would help him win. Once I give my word it is my word. And honestly, at some point in the race, I would have figured out a way to let him win. My word is my word.
Really, winning a sixth Tour was not tempting?
Why?
Well, to become the first and only rider to win six Tours, for example.
That’s not going to make you happier as a person!
Despite the recent revelations about Lance Armstrong, you always seemed to like the way he raced.
Yes, because he attacked. I liked that.
And the Americans today?
Well, there is Andrew Talansky and Tejay van Garderen, of course, and perhaps others I am not aware of yet. They’ve had bad luck in this year’s Tour, but they are still really good riders. So now they have to try and win a stage. They need to show something that demonstrates they are real champions.
