A cycling legend signed in this Loire-Atlantique town

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Quintuple winner of the Tour de France, three-time winner of the Tour of Italy and winner of the Tour of Spain twice, Bernard Hinault will travel to Guérande (Loire-Atlantique) on Saturday November 30, 2024, from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., to sign his latest work Bernard Hinault, 1975-1986.

You have just celebrated your 70th birthday (November 14). Do you continue to go on bike rides?

Yes of course, not every day but when I feel like it. Three weeks can go by without riding, but then I can go out three times doing 50 to 80 km.

Do you have any memories of running in Saint-Nazaire or the Guérande peninsula?

In this sector, no. I remember going to this area with the Tour de Bretagne, but as an organizer. As a runner, I remember a time trial between Châteaubriant and Nantes, but that was a long time ago.

“I don’t see any French riders capable of winning the Tour de France”

You are the last Frenchman to have won the Tour de France in 1985. How do you explain it?

I think that we do not have the champion with extraordinary qualities and extraordinary physical abilities like Tadej Pogacar (winner in 2020, 2021 and 2024). We had very good riders like Romain Bardet or Thibaut Pinot, but they didn't have that little thing that makes you stand above the others. Plus, they weren't great at time trials and modern cycling, and even in my time, if you don't excel at that, it's very difficult to win the Tour. And for the moment, I don't see any French runners capable of winning.

Did you have these “outstanding” physical abilities?

Yes, we are not made like the others (laughs).

How is your latest book different from others?

It's a book written by Jean Cléder, an academic who, through his research, sees cycling in another way. There are also documents and unpublished photos from my career.

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