But as Team Sky's big guns filtered ominously up the leaderboard, 63-yearold
Hinault said: "Regret what I said?
Hinault, who completed his achievement across the 1982 and 1983 seasons, went as far as saying that Froome should not have even been on the start line.
There has not been a home winner of the Tour since
Hinault in 1985, and Bardet's second place is only the third for a French rider in 20 years.
Cavendish has won his second stage of the 2016 edition, moving level with
Hinault on 28, second all-time to eddy Merckx's record of 34.
Belgian great Eddy Merckx, like
Hinault a five-time Tour champion, tops the list of stage wins in cycling's most prestigious race with 34.
Belgian Eddy Merckx, like
Hinault a five-time Tour winner, still tops the list of stage wins with 34.
William Fotheringham's definitive biography of Bernard
Hinault is a must, not just for cycling aficionados, but anyone interested in sporting competition.
The Italian, winner of the 2010 Vuelta a Espana and 2013 Giro d'Italia, became the sixth rider to win all three Grand Tours, after Jacques Anquetil, Felice Gimondi, Bernard
Hinault, Eddy Merckx and Alberto Contador.
France's Jean-Christophe Peraud climbed to second overall ahead of compatriot Thibaut Pinot as France is set to have two riders on the podium for the first time since Laurent Fignon and Bernard
Hinault finished first and second in 1984.
The French have waited even longer for a champion -- the last was Bernard
Hinault way back in 1985 -- but with three riders in the top six places, hopes are growing of at least a first podium place since climber Richard Virenque finished second in 1997.
Born on November 14, 1984, on the same day as the famous cyclist Bernard
Hinault, in Messina, Nibali moved from his hometown Messina to Tuscany at the age of 16.