Tadej Pogacar? It's nice to welcome him to the club of five, where there are two Frenchmen, myself and my "mentor" Jacques Anquetil. What else to expect from him: a sixth and a seventh Tour, along with other records broken with a superiority that is good and not bad for cycling. You sit in front of the television and enjoy the show that comes.

From Strambino, at the margins of the presentation of the Tour de l'Avenir, of which he is much more than a testimonial, Bernard Hinault delivers the exclusive membership card among the winners of five Grande Boucles, expressing all his admiration for the Slovenian.

Why do you follow young talents so closely?

"Because I see the future in them. I had the privilege of seeing Pogacar dominate at the Tour de l'Avenir in 2019 and then, in 2020, the Slovenian champion was already first in the general classification at the Paris presentation of the Tour de France. Observing riders who emerge, I also think of Del Toro and Seixas, gives an idea of how important the Tour of Youth is for those stepping into the spotlight, not by chance fully integrated into the near future World Tour orbit."

Hinault, should we now expect Tadej to win three Grand Tours in the same year?

"Well yes, I think so, knowing how to manage himself with proper preparation and wisely handling the gap between one stage race and another. The rest is clearly done by his greatness, the exciting way he races."

Before moving to our expectations about Finn, what did you see in Paul Seixas last year at the Avenir?

"It was an important moment for French cycling, great hopes emerged from the success of that boy who was barely 18 years old then, because he would turn 19 during the Kigali World Championships. He had already won the Junior World Championship in the time trial, it was a consecration that happened on the other side of the little San Bernardo."

A few days after the Rwandan world championships, the enfant prodige of Decathlon CGM would take bronze at the European Championships in Ardèche.... Why did you firmly maintain that Seixas should not do the Tour?

"Don't misunderstand me. He will still make great progress, but inevitable enormous pressure was generated around him. Graduality, for example Pogacar pursued it as an under-23. For Paul it wasn't easy to withstand the effort, also mental, even though accompanied by a well-equipped team. You've seen his numbers, he has courage to spare. But as long as Pogacar is around, the fight for first place is precluded to everyone."

Let's play a game: among Italian rivals, who worried you more between Moser or Saronni?

"When I came to Italy I had everyone against me and it was normal that it was so, I think I managed well, anyway...."

What does the last stage of the Tour that exploded at Montmartre leave in your eyes?

"Pogacar does well to win as much as he can, I recognize myself in those who race with that spirit and the guaranteed show captures you right in front of the screen or at the roadside."

Yet only one yellow jersey won in Paris on the last day....

"Myself, on the Champs-Élysées in 1982. Pogacar will try again, meanwhile chapeau to Van der Poel and his 'shot'."

Let's not forget Lorenzo Finn, under-23 world champion. What do you think of him?

"He has everything to succeed in the gold record after Seixas (there has been no Italian victory since 1973 with Baronchelli), I appreciate the strategy of insertion among professionals adopted by his technicians and he has already shown solidity. As always it will be nice to discover him and other boys who are part of the development teams, inserted from this year, better."

What awaits us in less than a month?

"From Normandy to Ceresole Reale we will have a crescendo, in which the first screening of ambitions will be done by the time trial. Tuesday, August 25 we arrive at the Iseran from Val d'Isère, a thirty-kilometer climb, Wednesday 26 from Strambino to Ceresole Lago Serrù the script will be similar. Two days of grand finale where there will be great battle, in the tradition of the Tour de l'Avenir."