Top 95 Quotes & Sayings by Eddy Merckx
Explore popular quotes and sayings by Eddy Merckx.
Last updated on December 23, 2024.
You need just as much drive to be a good businessman as you do to excel as an athlete.
I didn't win any bunch sprints. But I won in solo breakaways, I won time-trials, I won in the mountains.
I stopped because I was tired of always racing.
I've never been that bothered by numbers; the history of cycling evolves and follows its own course.
When you are number one, the pressure is on you. It's not only physical but mental. You become tired.
Ride as much or as little, or as long or as short as you feel. But ride.
All those races, all those victories and losses, it's as if they happened to someone else.
Cycling is a sport of the people. How many people in the world have never been on a bike? Not many.
You know the cycling federation in the U.K. did a good job of going around schools and scouting young riders. The Belgian federation is not like that. It is asleep.
I can tell you I preferred my era. Yes, they make much more money now but I preferred my cycling. The passion for racing. I like more racing. Now riders they train all the time. Not so much racing.
Cavendish is a fantastic and jovial boy.
Being in a team with a good atmosphere and where the people hang out, you can always outdo yourself there.
If you have big talent and don't train it's all over.
The day when I start a race without intending to win it, I won't be able to look at myself in the mirror.
In my time also when you do good, Frenchmen don't like it.
The most important thing is that you're the best of your generation and I can say that I was.
It's not like at university where you graduate. Every cyclist must start again. At the end of the season you know if you are good or not.
I still cannot walk around anywhere in Belgium.
I have great memories, but I'm not terribly nostalgic.
I'd have no problem with Cavendish winning 34 or 35 Tour stages.
I earned more than other riders, but even in my best year I never grossed more than about $300,000.
Winning big Tours and stage races is often about pain management.
You know when you are in the peloton and you come near the Ventoux, nobody's speaking anymore, you can hear a fly, because it's always very quiet because everybody's afraid about the Ventoux, because it's a hard climb.
You need talent as a rider and I think I had that in my genes. But I think I also had a talent for suffering, which I thought was important, but also determination.
I find it difficult, the method of working in the cycling union, the lack of professionalism.
It is not enough to have talent alone. You will have to train hard and motivate yourself to do your best. You should learn to live for your sport.
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 always thought Mario Cipollini was difficult to beat but I think Cipollini would have found it very hard against Cavendish.
I think I was three or four when I first rode and four when I first crashed.
It's difficult for him, carrying the name. But Axel is doing what he likes to do, and for me, if Axel's happy, I'm also happy.
The closest I have come to death was when I had my crash at the Blois outdoor velodrome in central France in September 1969.
I won 34 in my career and I never thought that the record would last, that I'd be the person with the most stage wins.
The more big teams we have the more competition we have.
I won 34 Tour stages by winning sprints, in the mountains, in time trials and going on the attack on the descents. Let's not forget the five yellow jerseys I've got at home plus the 96 days I wore it. Does that not seem much?
We were not rich. We did not go to the Cote d'Azur or skiing. Our only vacation was to the North Sea. I had to pay for my bicycle every month, but we always had food.
I don't know if Armstrong will find it hard to get into normal life. You can't really compare our cases. He is a racer, too, but he has had cancer and has found other things in life which are important.
I have no regrets at all. With all the races I won, what regrets could I possibly have?
Miracles can sometimes happen in cycling.
My wife is a much better tourist than me.
If a rider is concerned about questionable practices, it's his duty to speak up for the good of others.
I'm not saying that every time I race I go to the very limit of my strength. But when the opportunity appears I consider it immoral not to take them.
Cyclists live with pain, if you can't handle it you will win nothing.
If I'm going to have to do all the work, I might as well do it alone.
We're not millionaires, but we live well.
Cycling always receives a bad name. It's always cycling that's attacked and other sports are never attacked.
The smaller races were where you made your money.
I cycle two or three times a week.
Everything being equal, no sickness or crashes, there's nobody who can beat Lance Armstrong at the Tour de France.
No, riding in the Peloton is more frightening than riding in the park.
Cycling is a good school for life. It makes you hard and gives you ambition, but you can never say you've arrived.
I wore the yellow jersey 96 times. It is the best memory of my career. It still gives me goosebumps.
You had to be strong in the head... training, training and training. That is the only way, even if you have big talent.
I sleep very well, thank you.
You can only be the best of your time. I was the best of my time.
I was a more aggressive rider than Armstrong. I would attack more often. He waits for the other guys, then counter-attacks.
Doping has to be fought, cheats must be unmasked, abuse should be punished but all this should remain human.
I raced from 1 February to 31 October every year, competed for everything.
The only event that counts is the Tour, it's the only race that all the media go to. It's far more important than it was in my time, but as I see it cycling is more than the Tour de France.
I don't like it when people say I was the best ever. It's silly. I am not the best ever. I was the best of my time.
It's important in life to do what you like to do, no?
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