Eddy Merckx

“Cycling is a good school for life. It makes you hard and gives you ambition, but you can never say you've arrived.”

“No, riding in the Peloton is more frightening than riding in the park.”

“When I won my first Tour, the second-placed rider was some 18 minutes behind.”

“I didn't win any bunch sprints. But I won in solo breakaways, I won time-trials, I won in the mountains.”

“If you think back to the days of Phil Anderson, when there were very few Australians to now when you have a Tour de France winner in Cadel Evans, a professional team in GreenEDGE, and classics winners in Stuart O'Grady and Matt Goss - the sport is bigger and bigger in Australia.”

“Absolutely, in stage races, Froome is better than Eddy Merckx. Maybe he can win five, six Tours de France, but my focus wasn't only on the Tour de France. I was riding all year.”

“You can only be the best of your time. I was the best of my time.”

“What wears you out is the competing, not the training.”

“I earned more than other riders, but even in my best year I never grossed more than about $300,000.”

“I stopped because I was tired of always racing.”

“If I'm going to have to do all the work, I might as well do it alone.”

“All those races, all those victories and losses, it's as if they happened to someone else.”

“We ate at 6:30 or 7:00 in the morning, before the race. First a small breakfast with the cheese and the ham and then steaks. It was horrible, but you know, you had to eat steaks to be strong. It was absolutely crazy.”

“It's a shame to mix sports and politics.”

“In my time also when you do good, Frenchmen don't like it.”

“India is a big country. Here people are talented, they are motivated. If they train properly, I see no reason why India won't produce world class cyclists in 10 years.”

“I've made up my mind. Lugano was my last World Championships as a coach.”

“It's important in life to do what you like to do, no?”

“With a wife and two children to support, I didn't have enough money for me to do nothing. So I started my business.”

“I do not plan to go on cycling until I am completely tired and finished.”