Legendary quotes of Tour de France athletes

Sometimes on a bad day a little motivation is all you need to get back to your training. Sometimes a quote can help you put your problems into perspective to understand how small they are, and can help you to understand an easy way to overcome them.

Look no further, because these Tour de France cyclists are inspiring with their achievements, actions and good sense of humor, their quotes might cheer up your day and inspire you for more!

As many of us know, the most popular and discussed American pro cyclist Lance Armstrong was diagnosed with testicular cancer at the age of 25, which he managed to overcome and return to sports after that. When asked about his chances of survival to his curing doctor, the doctor said:

"Almost none. We told Lance initially 20 to 50% chance, mainly to give him hope. But with the kind of cancer he had, with the x-rays, the blood tests, there was almost no hope."

And then there is a Giles Smith quote that accurately shows the essence of the most iconic cycling race in just 9 short words.

The five time winner of Tour de France Bernard Hinault once said: “An amateur  should think long and hard before attempting one of these Tour de France stages. Two would probably necessitate visiting a doctor, and three would require a psychiatrist - any more and you should be checking if that person has written a will!”

And on the opposite of Lance Armstrong who spent years denying usage of doping, Jacques Anquetil, a French cyclist who won the Tour de France five times in the 1950s and 1960s, openly admitted to doping. “Everyone in cycling dopes himself,” he said in Scott's 1971 article.

And he added: ‘’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. There are no races.’’

And added to this there is Astif’s Kapadia’s quote: