Hinault didn't really strike my wife and me as too far off. I am just not prepared to judge a top flight athlete fighting hard to stay on the very tippety top, and however he rationalized that to himself afterward. I mean, he could have conceded after the fact that his time was really over but hey.

The coach seemed clearly in denial as to his motivations but it didn't have any real upside for my view of him. Favoring Hinault was not for the good of the team, it was just for the good of, whatever... not defensible. The coach did not look good at all to us.

Maybe the book has more info on Hinault personally poisoning Lemond's food or more actively soliciting French riders to knock his bike down by the handlebars, but that specific threat wasn't in the movie, just the general atmosphere of menace.