A week out from the start of the 1986 Tour de France, five-time Tour de France winner Bernard Hinault, the Badger, has responded to rumors swirling in the peloton about his upcoming retirement and who — if anyone — might fill his spot on the La Vie Claire team.

Hinault speaks

In the June 27 issue of Velo-news, Hinault revealed that he has “always seen [Greg LeMond] as my successor. But now on the team I think I have another: Hampsten. I have put them on a par ever since I saw Hampsten dominate Greg in the time trials of the Coors Classic, and I think he is superior in the mountains. It’s true that since I have known Hampsten I have revised my judgment about who will succeed me.”

Hinault’s five Tour de France victories have not blinded him from the realities that his career will come to an end, and his potential successor will be only a bike length behind ready to take his position.

It’s intriguing to learn that before LeMond was signed to join Hinault’s Renault team, Hinault and sport director Cyrille Guimard actually traveled to America to meet LeMond in person.

Cycling journalist Richard Moore writes that Guimard traveled to LeMond’s home in Reno with Hinault and Jean-Marie Leblanc, a journalist with L’Equipe, who came along to act as translator.

Guimard said, “I wanted to go there above all because it was important for me to see how Greg lived in the USA. You can bring someone over, put them in an apartment, but it’s not just a case of transporting them — you have to integrate them” into the European peloton.

He said Hinault enjoyed the trip. “That’s the kind of situation the Badger likes. He’s quite an open person, actually. The idea of going to the USA to meet an American was quite sympa for him.”

As for why Hinault was willing to make the trip, the Badger said, “I’d already said in 1980 that I’d stop riding in 1986. We went all the way to Reno because we believed in LeMond.”

This coverage of the 1986 Tour de France was adapted from Richard Moore’s new book Slaying the Badger. For more on cycling’s most extraordinary rivalry and the greatest ever Tour de France, please find the book in your local bookstore, bike shop, or online.

• Amazon.com: Slaying the Badger
• BarnesandNoble.com: Slaying the Badger
• VeloGear.com: Slaying the Badger
• Chapters/Indigo: Slaying the Badger
• From your local independent bookseller

Please join us tomorrow for continued coverage of the 1986 Tour de France!