photos of his birthday party in Rennes

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Samuel Sauneuf

Published on

Nov. 14, 2024 at 7:30 a.m.

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70 years ago, this Thursday, November 14, 2024, the man who would become the greatest French Cycling champion of all time was born in Yffiniac, near Saint-Brieuc: Bernard Hinault, the man with five Tour de Frances, three Tours of Italy, two Tours of Spain, a World Championship, etc.

A sacred monster of French sport

A man with muscles of steel and a strong character who reigned over world cycling from the late 1970s until the mid-1980s.

More than a cycling legend, Bernard Hinault is a sacred monster of French sport. He remains the last French rider to have completed the Grande Boucle on his list of achievements. It was in 1985, it will be 40 years ago next year.

The man of the evening, the five-time and last French winner of the Tour de France Bernard Hinault. ©Le Pays Malouin / Samuel Sauneuf

“While waiting for my successor, I remain number 1 and I don’t mind that,” laughs the one nicknamed “the badger” (because like the animal, he never let go of his “prey”).

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Joop Zoetemelk, Bernard Thévenet…

So yes, such a cycling monument could not celebrate its 70th anniversary in the strictest privacy. Last Saturday, his friends the Saint-Malo art publisher Christophe Penot and Yannick Houée rolled out the red carpet for him at the Cicé-Blossac estate in Bruz for a birthday evening in his honor and that of his wife Martine.

Bernard Hinault, surrounded by his family, remembered his good years in the company of a Nice line-up of champions, ranging from his great rival Joop Zoetemelk to Bernard Thévenet (Eddy Merckx, unwell, had to cancel his visit the day before).

His former teammate Marc Madiot was also there. Its sporting director Cyrille Guimard, alongside whom Bernard Hinault won his first four rounds, would not have missed this moment for anything.

Good laugh between Marc Madiot, Bernard Thévenet, Philippe Le Gars (cycling journalist for L'Équipe) and David Lappartient. ©Le Pays Malouin / Samuel Sauneuf

Bernard Thévenet, double winner of the Tour de France, came to toast the health of his former opponent Bernard Hinault. ©Le Pays Malouin / Samuel Sauneuf

The “druid” Cyrille Guimard, sports director at the seven Tour de France with Van Impe, Hinault and Fignon in deep discussion with the eternal Jean-Paul Ollivier, says Paulo science, the memory of cycling at the 41 Tour de France! ©Le Pays Malouin / Samuel Sauneuf

The anecdote that says a lot

Other distinguished guests: the president of the International Cycling Union (and perhaps future president of the IOC) David Lappartient and the memory of cycling Jean-Paul Ollivier.

Never short of anecdotes, the eternal “Paulo la science” took the floor during the evening to tell how Bernard Hinault had won the hearts of the terrible fans during his first victory at the Giro. The Breton was the only rider in the peloton to pay his respects at the grave of “Campionissimo” Fausto Coppi. The image moved the whole of Italy.

She reminds us today that Hinault was not simply legs of fire making the peloton suffer martyrdom. Hinault was also a well-made person, who respected the history of his sport and the champions who wrote it, like him.