Three-time champion joins Merckx, Moser, Gimondi, Baldini and Roche
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Bernard Hinault shares a joke with Eric Heiden(Image credit: Fotoreporter Sirotti)
Barnard Hinault and Wladimiro Panizza during stage 18 of the 1980 Giro d'Italia(Image credit: Fotoreporter Sirotti)
Bernard Hinault races towards the pink jersey on stage 20 of the 1980 Giro d'Italia(Image credit: Fotoreporter Sirotti)
Bernard Hinault during stage 17 of the 1982 Giro dlItalia(Image credit: Fotoreporter Sirotti)
Bernard Hinault contests the final time trial at the 1985 Giro d'Italia(Image credit: Fotoreporter Sirotti)
Bernard Hinault relaxes in the pink jersey ahead of stage 16 at the 1985 Giro d'Italia(Image credit: Fotoreporter Sirotti)
Three-time champion, Bernard Hinault is set to be inducted into the Giro d'Italia Hall of Fame in a ceremony next Tuesday. Hinault is the sixth rider to be inducted into the race's Hall of Fame and will join other former champions Eddy Merckx, Francesco Moser, Felice Gimondi, Ercole Baldini and Stephen Roche. A ceremony will take place at the Teatro Gerolamo in Milan on Tuesday, March 28.
Hinault, known for his position as the so-called 'Patron' of the peloton during his career, only rode the Giro d'Italia three times but won on each of those occasions and is one of only three Frenchmen to have stepped on the top of the race's final podium. During those three appearances, Hinault also laid claim to six stage wins.
Hinault's first appearance and subsequent victory came in 1980, five years into his career. At the time, he had already won the Tour de France twice and the Vuelta a Espana. Hinault would spend two days in the leader's jersey in the opening week but would then cede it to Roberto Visentini. Hinault did not take it back until the final mountain stage. He arrived in Milan two days later with a final lead of 5:43 over the Italian, Wladimiro Panizza.
Following his emphatic Giro d'Italia win, Hinault's defence of his Tour de France title was not as successful. It started well with three stage wins in the first week but tendinitis took hold, and he struggled until deciding to quit ahead of stage 13, while in the yellow jersey. It would be two years before Hinault would attempt the Giro-Tour double again.
With another Tour de France title under his belt in 1981 Hinault returned to the Giro d'Italia the following season. The Frenchman went into pink on day one after his Renault-Elf team took victory in the opening team time trial. He would trade the jersey with several riders throughout the race before eventually winning it by a 2:35 margin over Bianchi rider Tommy Prim. Later that season, Hinault would take his fourth Tour de France title.
Hinault would again leave a break between his second and third Giro d'Italia appearances. In the meantime, he added a second Vuelta a Espana in 1983 and found himself second to Laurent Fignon in the 1984 Tour de France. Hinault's final Giro d'Italia victory would be his closest one yet as he fended off home rider Francesco Moser for the title.
Moser got off to a better start when he won the prologue, but a determined Hinault chipped away at the lead until he eventually took over the race with victory in the stage 12 time trial. Moser kept Hinault honest for the remaining stages but would still be just over a minute short. Hinault went on to complete the Giro-Tour double with victory at the Tour de France a few months later, but it would prove to be his final Grand Tour win, and he retired at the end of the following season.
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As well as Hinault's Grand Tour wins, he also found success at the 1980 World Championships and several other one-day races, including Paris-Roubaix, Liege-Bastogne-Liege and the Giro di Lombardia.
