Bernard Hinault enjoys GC battle: "We're spoiled by these two riders, and we don't know who will be the best"
Cycling
Bernard Hinault, the last French Tour de France champion from 1985, will have to wait at least one more year to find his successor on Grande Boucle. Even then, the spectacular battle between Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar has Hinault on the edge of his seat as he opens up to Cyclism'Actu.
"May the best win. We can't say who's better, they're both great. We're spoiled by these two riders, and we don't know who will be the best. I'm convinced by Vingegaard and Pogacar. They surrender blow for blow, we can't dream of better than that. We are waiting for a decision to be made between the two now, it's going to be great," explains excited Bernard Hinault.
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"The gap between them and the others is big today, but it will be much smaller tomorrow, believe me," said the five-time Tour de France champion.
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Hinault adds that he's not particularly excited about performances by home riders, who aside Lafay's performances in Pays Basque, had been quite lackluster. "I'm a little disappointed by the performance of the French riders on this Tour"
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Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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Brucegel15-11-2026 - You are interested in Pogi for one reason only, you feel like you are somehow related because you share some vague geographical identity. Other than that you have very little interest in cycling as all your posts show, if it can’t be connected to Pogi you have nothing to post. That said, recent activity here shows we are attracting quite a crowd from his region.Jumpyjohn15-11-2026
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