Get a bicycle. You will certainly not regret it, if you live. Mark Twain
Ride as much or as little, or as long or as short as you feel. But ride. Eddy Merckx
If you’re feet are on the ground, it’s not so bad. Eddie Merckx
I never had a dad when I was little. So no-one taught me to ride a bike. Derek s2e6, Channel 4 2014
One man has achieved more than any other. And he did it his way. Cycling is about more than just speed. It’s about skill and strength. Heart and desire. His hunger brought him eleven Grand Tours, and three World Championships. Sporting Greats – Eddie Merckx
The finest stage racer of all time. ibid.
Merckx was a force of Nature. ibid.
He was disqualified for a positive drugs test. ibid.
Merckx devoured his first Tour de France, taking six stage wins. ibid.
In 1974 he won his fifth Tour de France. ibid.
The greatest career cycling we will ever see. ibid.
In the cycling world the road remains the pinnacle ... Amongst the sprinters one man dominates the rest – multi Tour de France stage wins and the 2011 world championship is the proof. Mark Cavendish is simply the fastest man on two wheels. Sporting Greats – Mark Cavendish
Cavendish kept on winning including a first national title aged fourteen. ibid.
Aged just nineteen Cavendish was a world champion. ibid.
Cavendish became the first British rider to win four stages in a single Tour. ibid.
When I’m racing it is like time’s slowing down. Mark Cavendish
Bradley Wiggins has been winning for as long as he’s been on a bike. A decade of endeavour has brought him a string of major honours – world championships, Olympic gold medals, leader’s jerseys and grand tours. Bradley Wiggins: A Very British Champion, ITV 2012
He rode out his first ever world pursuit gold; that year he swept up four national titles as well – his march to the very top of the sport had begun. ibid.
Bradley Wiggins had won it all – team and individual pursuits, Madisons, it mattered little. ibid.
Wiggins started to train harder than he’d ever before. ibid.
I’ve been racing since I was twelve. Bradley Wiggins
Photography as a fad is well-nigh on its last legs, thanks principally to the bicycle craze. Alfred Stieglitz, 1887
I simply haven’t the nerve to imagine a being, a force, a cause which keeps the planets revolving in their orbits, and then suddenly stops in order to give me a bicycle with three speeds. Quentin Crisp
The Japanese secret weapon in Malaysia was the bicycle. The World at War 6/26: Banzai, BBC 1973
The bicycle brigades were a vital asset of the Japanese army, and the routes were planned long before they invaded. Singapore 1942: End of Empire I, BBC 2012
‘I am officially running for president of the United States and we are going to make our country great again … We have people that are stupid … I will never be in a bicycle race, that I can tell you.’ Donald Trump, cited How to Lose the Presidency
Mr F G Superman has a secret identity: when trouble strikes at any time at any place he is ready to become – bicycle repair man. Monty Python’s Flying Circus s1e3, BBC 1969
For the past 150 years Britain has been a nation of bike-lovers. And for much of that time one make has been associated with quality, innovation and Britishness – Raleigh bikes … The biggest bike manufacturer in the world. Pedalling Dreams: The Raleigh Story, BBC 2017
In 1932 it bought one of its main rivals Humber. But by then it had another serious competitor; based in Birmingham Hercules was founded in 1910. ibid.
In 1999 it made a shock announcement … Three years later Rayleigh announced it was closing its Nottingham factories for good. ibid.
It is a tale of almost mythic proportions: a hero who overcomes unlikely roots and a deadly disease to dominate his sport … The Armstrong story is either one of remarkable success or an astounding fall from grace or … both. The Fifth Estate: Lance Armstrong: Master of Spin, CBC 2012
In his first four attempts [Tour de France] overall his best results was 36th place. ibid.
EPO: To increase the production of red blood cells which carry oxygen throughout the body. ibid.
Even after cancer Armstrong was still working with the man known as Dr Evil – the Italian physician Dr Michele Ferrari. ibid.
A positive test for EPO should have required a two-year suspension, but those test results weren’t revealed and no action against Lance Armstrong was ever taken. ibid.
[David] Walsh [cycling journalist] set out to prove that the world’s top cyclist, a legend and a leader in the fight against cancer, was not what he appeared to be. ibid.
At last the International Cycling Union took action. ibid.
He personified how it should look in this floating angelic sense that it was effortless for him … I always felt not worthy to be in his company. Pantani: The Accidental Death of a Cyclist, Wiggins, Sky Documentaries 2020
Today, I don’t associate cycling with winning. I associate it with terrible, terrible things. ibid. Pantani
It’s the mountains where the pure, raw talent comes out. ibid. Lomond
Whenever he reached a hill he would drop everyone. ibid. trainer
He was totally massacred, every part of him bruised black. ibid. Giuseppe Roncucci
We don’t want to be treated like animals. ibid. Laurent Jalabert
A confession that doping has been endemic in the Festina team and that the team organised it. ibid. Tour spokesman
In 4k he was able to reclaim 4 minutes off Indurain. It was stunning. ibid. commentator
It wasn’t just a masterclass; it was humiliation of his rivals. All Italy is exalted. ibid.
This morning Marco Pantani gave blood for testing. The Pirate’s red blood cell count was above the permitted 50% threshold. ibid.
Marco was never found positive; it was a test for his health. ibid.
Pantani became obsessed with the idea that a plot had been formulated to entrap him. ibid.
It was scandalous. It wasn’t a doped rider here, a doped rider there, it was culture of doping. ibid. Matt Rendell
At his Centre in Ferrera, Conconi is alleged to have given performance enhancing drugs to 63 athletes. ibid. commentator
Given an entirely clean sport during his era, Pantani would almost certainly still have excelled. ibid.
Aged 34, struggling with depression, he died alone. ibid. TV news