Laura Trott

“It's all well and good having a women's Tour de France - which I think we need and I think we should have. But I think we should slowly build it in and not just go 'Bam!' with three weeks over the same course and same length of time as the men's.”

“For all the benefits of being in the public eye, there is the odd downside, too. Twitter goes mad sometimes with people saying weird stuff. It is a bit strange, but you can just ignore them. It is not even worth getting worked up about.”

“I don't feel like an idol to anybody. I don't feel anybody should look up to me.”

“Cycling was the sport of our family - we did it all the time, five days a week.”

“For 10 days after the Olympics, I couldn't go back to my house because people were sitting outside waiting to take my photo. That was a bit rubbish. At first I was open: 'Yeah, of course you can take a photo...' but after a while, it got to the point where I thought, 'Whoa, I don't like this attention anymore.'”

“You don't know how good you are until you actually get out on a bike and get riding.”

“People find it hard to fit exercise into their working-day life. Nine to five jobs take up most of your day, so it's always difficult. But a little can go a long way. It can literally be 10 or 15 minutes of exercise that can be of real benefit.”

“My mum was my inspiration. As cliche as that sounds, she was the reason that we started. She chose cycling to lose weight. I was only eight at the time, so I just followed what my mum did.”

“I said back in 2010 when I was rubbish at the European championships, 'If I never win an omnium until 2012, I don't care.' I then won Olympic gold.”

“Elimination race is my thing. I really enjoy that event.”

“I don't like the road. I love being on the track. I like being indoors and the fact I'm not battling past 200 other riders.”

“I am very superstitious. I trod on a wet towel before winning the Junior World Championships, and now I have to do that every time.”

“I get asked to comment a lot on inequality in cycling, but for me it has never been an issue. Everything has always been equal on the track, and the male and female riders are all part of the same team, and we all mix freely.”

“When I first started out in cycling, if there were two girls there, that was successful; but now, if there are 20 girls there, it's just unbelievable. The growth of the sport is just incredible.”

“I can get really nervous before a race. People will think this is mad, but sometimes I have got to the start line and thought, 'What if I can't do this?' But the minute I sit on the bike, I am like a different person.”

“It's nice to actually look done-up, because people see a different side of me, the more girly side. Obviously, I can't do that with cycling. I can't go with nice girly hair and full make-up.”

“I think when I first started cycling, it wasn't that popular with kids. I felt almost embarrassed going down the road on my road bike; I didn't want my friends to see me because it was embarrassing.”

“Cyclists need to help themselves and should not jump red lights. I would ride in London, but I certainly wouldn't ride like that; you just have to be careful. I can understand going down the outside of traffic, but you should obey the rules of the road because we're all road users.”

“I never really had a job, because I've been cycling from such a young age: there was never really a time to have a job. My mum went into Starbucks once and asked if they had a job for me, and they offered me one - but I never took it up because I couldn't fit the job in with school and cycling.”

“The best way for women to get into cycling is to go out in a group, to feel like you're part of it.”