Was this the greatest Classics victory of all time? Within 70 kilometres of the 1980 Liège-Bastogne-Liège monument over half the field had abandoned. Bernard Hinault himself was going to quit, before his famed pride prevented him from doing so.
Attacking over the Haute-Levee (‘to keep warm’, he said after the race), Hinault rode the final 80km of the race alone, riding into Liège an astonishing nine minutes clear of the chasing pack. This was the day Bernard Hinault truly became le Patron.
