Bernard Hinault thinks there might've been better options for the Velo d'Or: "Maybe I would've voted for Tadej Pogacar"

Eddy Merckx and Bernard Hinault honored Tuesday's award ceremony. The two cycling legends actively participated in consecrating the champions of the 2023 season. Asked at Cyclism'Actu microphone about the list of winners, Hinault rather validated it.

"It is consistent with what we have seen, they are the best at the moment. Afterwards, it is not easy to sort it out and say that it is this one more than another," explains the Frenchman before indicating that he would not necessarily have given the Men's Velo d'Or to Jonas Vingegaard. "Maybe I would've voted for Tadej Pogacar," he adds.

Winner of his first Tour de France at 23, which was extremely young at the time, how does Bernard Hinault perceive this modern cycling, with riders who are now very competitive from the age of 19 or 20? "In my time, we didn't dare to launch young people, we wanted to protect them, but now we no longer ask any questions. Whether these riders will have careers as long as us, I don't know, but what's taken is taken," specifies one of the four five-time winners of the Grande Boucle.

"These big teams are very expensive, and as we see that the economy is a little worse, we may have to reduce the budgets. Instead of having four or five big riders in the same team, we should distribute them on several teams. In any case, we shouldn't be too worried about cycling. It has already experienced difficulties in the past, but each time it has started again," concludes Hinault.