Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
I think if I get the training spot on, the equipment perfect and I'm in the right state of mind, I can get a result there from no competitive action.
I had grown used to getting a pat on the back and being told after a good result: 'Well done, David - you should be happy, you're the first clean rider.
You'd have to be an imbecile or hypocrite to imagine that a professional cyclist who rides 235 days a year can hold himself together without stimulants.
Realizing full well that fine condition and confidence will not in themselves make a champion, it is my belief, however, that they are essential factors.
... I know a number of Western children who would benefit greatly if only someone were primitive enough to inhibit the development of their personalities.
To these ideals which were instilled in me when I was a youth, I attribute in a large degree the success that was mine on the bicycle tracks of the world.
Sooner or later a rider will emerge who will win more Tours. In every sport we have seen how the records eventually get broken and cycling is no exception.
Illegal drug use runs contrary to the image of health depicted by cycling. Distributors of these drugs must be prosecuted more harshly as they are ciminals.
People do make mistakes and I think they should be punished. But they should be forgiven and given the opportunity for a second chance. We are human beings.
You can accomplish so much with a strong will. Just do your best, no matter what. Don't let negative thoughts creep in. Don't talk yourself out of anything.
Training is bad for you! Training followed by rest and proper nutrition is good for you and will make you better prepared for the event you are training for.
I pray they will carry on in spite of that dreadful monster prejudice, and with patience, courage, fortitude and perseverance achieve success for themselves.
I inherited that calm from my father, who was a farmer. You sow, you wait for good or bad weather, you harvest, but working is something you always need to do.
The men couldn't understand how I could be so successful and so insecure at the same time - because it doesn't really exist in the same way in the male psyche.
As a teenager, I wanted to look like the early '90s curvy supermodels. Even in my early 20s, I always said as soon as I retired from cycling, I'd get a boob job.
The moral turpitude of the boys of today appears to center in their failure to concentrate on any particular objective long enough to obtain their maximum results.
We are all totally committed as elite athletes. To think that pushing people around and bullying them is the best way to get results out of them is just ludicrous.
An athlete must have ability to reach the top, but many who have ability and who do not live clean lives never have and never will be champions for obvious reasons.
Undoubtedly the Afghans must be, by our standards, the best-looking people in the world. They have everything; height, proportions, carriage, features and complexion.
Cycling isn’t a game, it's a sport. Tough, hard and unpitying, and it requires great sacrifices. One plays football, or tennis, or hockey. One doesn’t play at cycling.
I have also noticed that when a rider who had confidence in his ability was defeated, after doing his level best to win, always received an ovation from the gathering.
Sunnis consider Shias a pack of unwholesome fanatics and Shias consider Sunnis a gang of lukewarm no-goods - there's nothing like religion for spreading brotherly love!
I really love routine and so I've never found it a problem. I really enjoy it. I don't mind somebody organising what I have to do. I'm a creature of habit in some ways.
Clean living is the cardinal principle in the lives of the world's greatest athletes, as the phenomenal performances of these outstanding characters will obviously show.
I'm not one for going out on the town on Friday night, as I've never been a big drinker, so I like getting the rubbish jobs out of the way so we can enjoy our free time.
Even though I've won numerous titles and an Olympic gold medal, there are still so many faults in my performance that I can honestly hardly bear to watch the videos back.
For 20 years I've had the privilege of representing Canada around the globe... first on the bike and then on my blades. The experiences have shaped me into who I am today.
I'm very passionate about my two Dobermans, Stella and Mr Jonty. I go on and on and on about them, and people have to tell me to shut up before I get out pictures of them.
I get the sense many people are unsure about their digital media allocation. Even those who believe they are progressive in their thinking wonder if they have got it right.
There's footage of me bouncing around, all uncoordinated, trying to work out how on earth you're supposed to do a rising trot on a really extravagant moving eventing horse.
Now there are two or three teams who are very ethical in their outlook who have opened up the economic benefits and that is probably going to be a turning point in the sport.
We've all said, 'No, no, I couldn't do that... ' But actually, you could if you just went, 'You know what? I will... and I shall.' Once you realise that, it's quite wonderful.
To be brutally honest, it's simple economics. If they want to come into cycling, sponsors need to know the team they are funding is clean, otherwise the risk is just too great.
It is my thought that clean living and a strict observance of the golden rule of true sportsmanship are foundation stones without which a championship structure cannot be built.
Real heroes are others, those who have suffered in their soul, in their heart, in their spirit, in their mind, for their loved ones. Those are the real heroes. Im just a cyclist.
Coppi? Is he the one we followed in the Giro del Piemonte? The guy who is as skinny as an asparagus? He doesn't lack courage, I'll give you that, but I think he's kind of fragile.
As you ride in a steeplechase, and you're on the horse, going quite fast, you think, 'That's quite a big fence...' But trust the horse, and don't give him any reason to doubt you.
I can hardly express in words my deep feeling and sympathy for them, knowing as I do, the many serious handicaps and obstacles that will confront them in almost every walk of life.
I genuinely enjoy the process of making colourful, delicious food. But I do allow myself an occasional piece of chocolate - today I had a pastry. If I fancy something, I'll have it.
Even when you feel as though everything is 100% it can still go wrong on the night (like in Melbourne!) so you never know for sure that you're going to do the performance you expect.
As a kid growing up - I can see now - it didn't matter what I did, as long as it was something I could be really good at. Cycling just happened to be the opportunity that came along.
I had some experience in dealing with people who have mental illness and depression, but I didn't see the signs in myself. I couldn't ask for help because I didn't know I needed help.
I like to eat healthily anyway and I think I've become more disciplined now I've retired - because I'm such a creature of habit, I don't find it hard to do. I quite enjoy the challenge.
Oddly enough you'd think, now that I wasn't training professionally, I'd be able to enjoy a lie-in at the weekend, but I actually slept more when I was competing because I was so tired.
That's what is most satisfying, is having overcome that pain. Pain that is so intense that when you finish, it feels like you're going to die. That's what I wanted, and that's what I got.
In tennis, you can have a bad set and still win. The part of track cycling that is difficult to find in other sports is that it's so final; there's no second chance if you make a mistake.
Often the best guys are just those that can suffer longer, who don't give up. And it's so easy to give up, when you're on a mountain and it's really hurting. We go through a lot physically.
In fact cycling has always been 'saved' by judicial investigations and not by the anti-doping controls we put in place. That's the harsh truth. We have relied on them to clean the sport up.
I have this thing I say to myself that 'tomorrow can be better.' And I remember that period in my life where I never felt like tomorrow could be better. It was always dread for the next day.
A lot of women in sport tend to take on a very masculine, aggressive look. They want to be perceived as being strong and powerful. I never lost that sense of wanting to retain my femininity.