Paris-Roubaix 81 : Bernard Hinault

[imajeepster]

I read a great article about this race....he HATED PR, thought it was ridiculous, dangerous, etc. But when he was world champ, he decided he'd try and win. But even though he did, he still hated it! LOL

[WELLBRAN]

@imajeepster yaeah thats right after winning it he said it was for dickheads! lol also he said whats it got to do with cycling...and in a way he is right its all about luck weather keeping out of crashes and really nothing to do with skill or riding ability...thats what he meant...I think! lol

[imajeepster]

@WELLBRAN you have to admire the guy, he hated every minute but he was determined. Bonne Fete, Bernard!

[5891jonathan]

Badger!!!

[WELLBRAN]

@5891jonathan Badger?...No headbanger!

[cljenkins63]

This maybe the most dominate show of force I have ever seen in cycling, Hinault is a BADASS!

[tenform]

belle performance mais que les commentaires français sont pénibles.



[Chamartinero]

Je crois Bernard Hinault a été le plus grand du sport mondial. N'importe à quellle discipline. Malgré il vainquait toujours les cyclistes espagnols, (les désirs et les rêves existent et nous meuvent)  il faut dire que Bernard était sur tout et sur tous. Je n'oublie pas notre grand don Miguel Indurain, mais...........

Quand Hinault courrait je parlais et écrivait français mieux. Á ce temps j'aurais pu exposer mieux mes opinions.

Hinault fue, y será, siempre, el más grande.

Madrid, España.

[zapspace]

He didn't respect the cobblestone classics: he swore never to come back to Roubaix.

He never wanted to ride the Tour of Flanders! He should have.

[JOEL33779]

Bernard HINAULT m'a fait pleurer d'émotion... je n'oublierais jamais ce jour là....

Un immense champion au service du plus beau et du plus dur de tous les sports !

Le dernier des cyclistes dopés vaut mieux que le meilleur des "footeux" ...

Je le dis, je le pense, je l'affirme !!!

Joel Terryn

[singlespeeds]

The badger takes 'em to the hurt locker. What a bloody fantastic clip and what a show of force at the end. I just wish it was a bit easier to get hold of Hinault's book in English. I guess bashing away at the French version could only improve my language skills.

[sjl62]

@singlespeeds "Fifteen kilometers from the finish a little black dog almost ruined my plans. I can picture it today, with its red lead, as it dashed out into the road just in front of me. I had no hope of avoiding it. In a race where everybody fell off at some stage and where I'd already been down seven times, I fell again . . . [The leaders] didn't seem to be making much headway at all and, so close to the finish, I wasn't going to let a miserable dog take away my hopes of a victory."

[160867barbe]

du grand Hinault

[choinumni4]

I got beat in a sprint by a non sprinter the same way as Hinault did it to DeVlaemick. He knew I had a quick snap and could come around in the final 100 meters so he wound it up from 500 meters out and took the snap right out of me. So when I watch this video I can emphathize with Roger. Hinault was the man though. 80's cycling rules. Last of the strong men who raced the whole year to win not just for certain races. Its all the $ now

[sjl62]

@choinumni4 Part 1: "I arrived at the Roubaix track in third position and immediately looked up at the flags to see which way the wind was blowing. Having seen what I needed to, I made sure that I was first over the line with one lap of the 500-metre track to go. When the bell for the last lap rang I was in the lead . . . There was a following wind for the last 200 metres and i finished a length up on Roger de Vlaeminck."

[sjl62]

@choinumni4 Part 2: "I'd sprinted the whole distance without ever easing, increasing the pace over the past few hundred metres. I used the same trick a few days later in the Amstel Gold, when I was in the lead with a kilometre to go, and stayed there . . . I liked going for a long sprint like that, using my observation and judgment to get the timing right. By going from a long way I let the others think that they could overtake me; but they were wrong."

[davidoffon]

@choinumni4 2nd last, Kelly was the last and in his own way he was as good.

[AllanWellsfanclub]

what a man.

[ELGORITHM]

La volonté et la patience vont avec le succès !

[FIXXTHE]

Quel énorme champion. Et quel panache !

Merci d'avoir mis en ligne un tel moment de sport.

[cljenkins63]

what a great sprint in the velodrome! The Badger Rules!

[occitanist]

Merci pour cette vidéo. Quel sprint! Quel souvenir! je n'arrive pas à croire que ça fait bientôt 30 ans.

[psardain]

Did everyone see the small black dog dog causing Hinault's fall?

[occitanist]

@psardain Yes, you can see that black dog, in the middle of the road at 1:17 1:18

[MrMJ1978]

The Badger never lets go!

[Erwanlebreton]

the best !! le blaireau ya pas à dire, c'était le meilleur, une volonté sans faille

[kehizman]

Superclase

[drhouse1971]

a Tour De France winner riding Paris-Roubaix and winning it, something you'll never see again!

[WELLBRAN]

@drhouse1971 Yes and every other race also! and no stupid helmets getting in the way

[WELLBRAN]

Hinault just got flaming mad to go on the deck! So he took it out on those poor guys! lol

[ephipi]

I'm an old guy now and as passionate about cycling as I was in my youth. Hinault(The Badger), Merckx(The Cannibal), Coppi, Anquetil, Bobet, Vlaeminck, Anquetil, Robic and Lemond were many of the guys that gave me inspiration. Not to take away from current riders, but these guys road it all, did it all. No doping that I was aware of and they road on Chromoly frames. A 24 lb. road racing bicycle was not uncommon.

[leon92ification]

vives les bretons, je suis corse mais heureusement les bretons font du vélo!!!!!

[marrgi]

il numero 1 è moser!!!

MOSER: 3 primo, 2 secondo, 2 terzo;

MERCKX: 3 primo, 2 secondo

[bmaniac1]

A real rider. Rode all the races, and could win any of them. did not make a schedule so he could just win the tour. A whole other level of cyclist! Armstrong could never follow Hinault's schedule. Nothing against Lance, but the press has made him into the best ever, simply not the case. How many racers could win the final sprint in paris, mountain climbs, classics, ect.......a handfull, maybe only 2.

[audible67]

@bmaniac1 It really has nothing to do with the difference between the riders of the past and present; it's the sport. When so much money enters the game, the game changes. The high-end focus to peak during the TDF = money. The rise of doping = money. The endless comparisons of the 'integrity' of riders past and present is just pointless.

[bmaniac1]

@audible67 Yep, money changes everything. but hinault was in something else. 250 plus victories...that's just crazy good.

[audible67]

@bmaniac1 no argument there!

[stevemcqueenforever]

the badger-class!!!!

[navaco100]

Magnifique!!!quel caractère ce Blaireau....

[cicloguida]

un grande Campione, da gennaio a dicembre

[Vaicobra]

grande hinault, ma anche moser era forte...

[friendlyflow]

cette victoire est indescriptible,un vrai chef

d,oeuvre de le blaireau

[alex151993]

quel grand coureur ce bernard hinault

[laddie72]

To be honest I got started in cycling late in life and was exposed to it in the U.S. mostly because of Lance Armstrongs victories. Ten years later with road, mountain bike, and cyclocross racing as well as a trans-America bike ride in my legs these historical riders like Hinault, Merckx, Anquetil, Coppi, and others victories seem so full of class and beauty. The way Hinault was knocked down, closed the gap, and won the sprint from the front with the rainbow jersey on his shoulders was beautiful

[equinoxranch]

Hinault (and others of his time and previous times) was the real deal. He was "simply" phenominal. But, was clearly many levels above. In retrospect, not enough (today, in raging myopia newbie cyclistland) is said about Hinault, for that matter Merckx. As well, so many others, starting with Anquetil, whom I cannot say enough about......, Jacques was off the Richter scale and many should check out his records/style.

Armstrong? A total Potemkin Village. Wouldn't put him in the top ten, ever.

[Xavinavar]

Que grande era Hinault

[Vaicobra]

grande bernard è stato uno dei piu' forti..

[TchoukTchoukNase]

Hinault was the greatest AFTER MERCKX of course !

Il a réalisé de magnifiques performances, mais tout cela est tout de même incomparable...

[xyz7199]

Hinault avait la rage.

Chuter , repartir , rejoindre Moser , de Vlaemink et les torcher au sprint... Personne n'aurait imaginé ça.

[HickysBoy]

Not too many will dispute first place for Merckx! After that its a matter of personal preference. Anquetil for me but Coppi, Hinault, Armstrong also legitimate contenders. Who knows what Bartali could have accomplished without WW II taking his prime years?

[TchoukTchoukNigaud]

About Bartali and WWII, you are absolutely right. For the other ones, I agree about Coppi, Anquetil or Hinault, but not about Armstrong. Have a look about what each of them have won, and you'll see...

[bmaniac1]

I respectfully disagree. It is not opinion, but victories. Hinault is #2. Armstrong not even in the top 5, maybe higher. He pretty much raced 1 race a year, but I know you know all that already.

[roibasses]

Hinault was the greatest... I could watch this a thousand times. A time when men were men. They raced 100 races and used big gears and used bar tape with no padding. The TDF stages were well over 7 hours in the mountains. Today it is a hi-tech fairy show.

[goyherder]

in the last decade or so the stages are definitely getting shorter. Wasn't the tour 4000 km in the old days?

[WELLBRAN]

LOL yeah and you had to ride with an inner tube around your neck . Not to mention all the materails and equipment differences, todays riders would struggle in a sprint if they had to change gear on the down tube levers!

[pittsn]

most dont shift during a sprint....

[xpunisherx]

Where are the French champions now?

[FrostbiteSummer]

man

[Ecoq34]

Il faut etre costaud pour emmener et gagner un sprint comme ça ! Chapeau le Blaireau !

[sprotzerdehally]

Hinault is and was a Wanker

[audible67]

@sprotzerdehally Greg? is that you? still bitter, eh?

[anes008]

van petegem style 1966......coreur puissant...

[WELLBRAN]

Someone once asked hinault if he thought winning Paris roubaix was the pinnacle of cycling. He replied Winning Paris Roubaix? whats it got to do with cycling! Ha! he hated the race! and its true you need a lot of luck and all sorts can happen, and most of it is not down to how well you ride, so he had a good point.

[bainty66]

After this victory he said it was bullshit and never road it again.

[WELLBRAN]

I think he said it had NOTHINg to do with cycling, meaning that its really all down to luck and good fortune and not on form

[WELLBRAN]

I noticed after the finish line none of the other riders came to congratulate him..miserable bunch.

[kvmusic]

yeah, they did not even look at him. they must have been mad. Such classic specialists defeated by Hinault. What a sprint. I have to say, at the time I was mad too. I was a big supporter of De Vlaeminck.

[WELLBRAN]

Well loosing Paris roubaix in any sprint must be hard to take, let alone being led out for a whole lap, even being passed twice! Yes I bet Roger De V was fuming also!, but you have to take your hat of to a win like that.

[warlaker]

Their mindset must have been "Anybody but HIM!"

[WELLBRAN]

Nobody BUT Him could win like that!

[WELLBRAN]

In some ways I rate hinault better than Eddie

[sjl62]

Hinault didn't have quite as much depth in the classics, but I think it's clear he would have won at least six Tours if it hadn't been for his knee problems. In my book he should have won the Tour six times straight from '78 through '83. If he'd done that, maybe the subsequent politics with Lemond and Fignon would have turned out differently.

[tacavl]

c'est le plus grand champion de tous les temps

Il a tout gagné avec panache et toujours le maître du peloton.

[kvmusic]

mais non, c'est pas le plus grand. il a lui-meme dit que le plus grand c'etait merckx. c'est le deuxieme plus grand, c'est deja pas mal.

cette victoire a roubaix est phenomenale, il resiste a tous les routier-sprinters.

[glenno1969]

Bernard Hinault! The badger :o)

[colmmagoo]

Class! From the time when Paris-Roubaix was not the specialist race it is today and most of the top riders participated. I've heard/read that in the following year Hinault had a bad day in PR, and swore he'd never race it again, dismissing it as glorified cyclo-cross. I know he was never really prominent in this race again after this win.

[miguelroubaix]

Já não há, esta qualidade no ciclismo

[ediestevam]

o melhor ciclista frances.

[ZInnO007]

The Second best after Merckx !!!

[nonfictionone]

@ZInnO007 Coppi.

[WWWITALIANGIFTCOM]

Bravo, bella volata di potenza senza storia !

[noshtrilz]

Awesome!! simply Awesome - Bernard Hinault actualy had a secret advantage over the other guys as he has an exceptionaly long pair of femurs and this is a big advantage if your a cyclist as they are your levers. It was the same with Merckx, Coppi and Anquetil. Look at a photo of Hinault standing up and he really does look like a frog! A short small round upper body ( slightly barrel shape to contain his enourmous heart and lungs) and very long muscular legs.

[chickasmith]

Machine ... how good was that.

[chickasmith]

This was the lead dog in the production, then they had two dogs do it in the 2007 TDF lol.

How did this get on ESPN?!

[WELLBRAN]

Ha! yeah they should have FLOWN when they saw hinault crash in front of them. Being a Cornishman I know what kind of Charactor Hinault was, Breton aggression.

[sjl62]

ah yes -- long-lost ancestral brethren.

[WELLBRAN]

Just saw your comment here haha yes Celtic "neversaydie" attitude Or if you are going to die take out as many others on the way! haha!

[sjl62]

Holy hell -- what a way to win a sprint -- leading from a whole lap out!!!

[paulaus]

In his book "Road Racing Technique and Training" he talks about the tailwind on the finish straight and how it's difficult to come over the top in those conditions so he had to sprint from the front.