"I’d abolish bike computers and earpieces" - Hinault on changes to cycling safety; Pogacar and Vingegaard for Tour de France

Bernard Hinault was the last French winner of the Tour de France, and this season it's been 40 years already. The veteran still shares his opinions on the French hopes, what he would change to improve safety in cycling currently and how Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard are compared ahead of the Grand Depart.

At the time being there is still no clear figure of a next French Tour winner, something the 70-year old is often questioned about. “Forty years is a long time. And I don’t see anyone on the horizon ready to match talents like Pogacar, Vingegaard, Evenepoel. There’s Almeida, Del Toro, and a young Slovenian who won the Giro Next Gen (Jakob Omrzel, ed.) but I think France will have to wait a bit longer," Hinault said in an interview with Gazzetta dello Sport.

“France had good riders, even champions, but not suited for Grand Tours. What hurts is that none of the young ones ever came to ask me for advice. Not once," he laments. "I would have had something to say. At the very least, I could have shared a bit of my experience".

This year that certainly won't happen, with no French riders officially confirming their GC ambitions even. A Top10 would already come as a surprise, with the likes of Lenny Martínez, Guillaume Martin and Kévin Vauquelin more likely to chase stage wins in the mountains.

And at the top of the list are Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard. But Hinault does not believe they enter the Tour in equal footing. "They’re the clear favourites. Based on what we saw at the Dauphiné, I think it will be hard to beat Pogacar. Tadej is phenomenal.”

Even the potential of the current World Champion winning all three Grand Tours in a year is real according to the legend: "Pogacar could do it. And I wouldn’t rule out him trying in the coming years. The calendar makes it possible. If I were racing now, I’d go for it – and I’d know how to prepare for it.”

Hinault was also asked about safety in cycling, something that in recent years has gained a lot of traction and where there is active work on. This comes as the result of an increasing amount of crashes - both with big and small consequences.

“I don’t think gearing is the problem. If it were up to me, I’d abolish bike computers and earpieces," he argues, perhaps controversially. "Riders crash today because they’re staring at their data and not the road.”