Bernard Hinault

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Lore & Background

Hinault was born on 14 November 1954 in the Breton village of Yffiniac, the second oldest of four children to Joseph and Lucie Hinault. His parents were farmers. He came to cycling through his cousin René, who rode weekend races. Hinault received his racing licence in late April 1971 and won his first race on 2 May in Planguenoual. He won his first five races, amassing twelve wins from twenty races by the end of the year. After a successful amateur career, he turned professional in 1975 with the Gitane–Campagnolo team, run by former World Champion Jean Stablinski, on a wage of 2,500 francs per month. He took breakthrough victories at both the Liège–Bastogne–Liège classic and the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré stage race in 1977. In 1978, he won his first two Grand Tours: the Vuelta a España and the Tour de France. In the following years, he was the most successful professional cyclist, adding another Tour victory in 1979 and a win at the 1980 Giro d'Italia. Although a knee injury forced him to quit the 1980 Tour de France while in the lead, he returned to win the World Championship road race later in the year. He added another Tour victory in 1981, before completing his first Giro-Tour double in 1982. After winning the 1983 Vuelta a España, a return of his knee problems forced him to miss that year's Tour de France, won by his teammate Laurent Fignon. Conflict within the Renault team led to his leaving and joining La Vie Claire. With his new team, he raced the 1984 Tour de France, but lost to Fignon by over ten minutes. He recovered the following year, winning another Giro-Tour double with the help of teammate Greg LeMond. In the 1986 Tour de France, he engaged in an intra-team rivalry with LeMond, who won his first of three Tours. Hinault retired at the end of the season.

Reader's Guide

Bernard Hinault's significance lies in his extraordinary Grand Tour record: ten wins from thirteen starts, a tally second only to Eddy Merckx. No rider since Hinault has achieved more than seven Grand Tour victories. As of 2025 he is the most recent French winner of the men's Tour de France. All through his career, Hinault was known by the nickname Le Blaireau ("The Badger"); he associated himself with the animal due to its aggressive nature, a trait he embodied on the bike. Within the peloton, Hinault assumed the role of patron, exercising authority over races he took part in. After his cycling career, Hinault turned to farming, while fulfilling enforcement duties for the organisers of the Tour de France until 2016. His career included multiple Giro-Tour doubles and a World Championship road race title, cementing his place among cycling's all-time greats.

Did You Know?

• Hinault won his first five races after getting his racing licence in late April 1971.
• He was conscripted into the military at age 18 and did not race throughout 1973.
• At the 1977 Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré, Hinault crashed down a mountainside on a descent but climbed back up, took a new bike, and continued without hesitation.
• Hinault's mother nicknamed him 'little hooligan' as a child.
• He is not related to the younger cyclist Sébastien Hinault, despite sharing the same birthplace and surname.