Quotes from Eddy Merckx

You need just as much drive to be a good businessman as you do to excel as an athlete.

No doctor is going to tell me I can't finish the Tour. I will never give up.

I find it difficult, the method of working in the cycling union, the lack of professionalism.

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 raced from 1 February to 31 October every year, competed for everything.

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.

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 really worked hard and overcame mental barriers to achieve those records.

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

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 had a strong lieutenant to help me, but Hinault doesn't need one.