Top 70 Lizzie Armitstead Quotes

Eating well is really important to me. That means having balanced meals, never missing a meal, never skipping a meal, having a balanced diet, and never doing anything extreme.

It’s very special that the Olympics is in London. As a first Olympic experience, it’s going to be pretty incredible.

I’ve got a lot of silvers. Second seems to be something I end up being. I don’t want to be the bridesmaid forever.

I am sorry for causing anyone to lose faith in sport.

It’s really important for cycling and for women to be on a sporting stage which is in the mainstream and across the board, not just my own sport.

There are a lot of people I look up to and respect, but there’s nobody really specific I would call a hero.

I need to be fit and strong, and I don’t want to carry any excess fat.

I am one of the best in the world, and it’s a position I should get used to being in.

Cycling is a business.

My focus has to be on my career.

For the rest of my life, I realise people are going to ask questions of me, but at the end of the day, I am a clean athlete, and I have worked hard.

I never gave up, and for that, I can be proud of myself.

A world championship medal on the road is something that I’m missing from my CV.

I have to be a leader now. I need to shoulder responsibility more than I used to. It’s changed me, but I’m OK with that.

There are lots of things that could be done. We could get more help from the UCI, like forcing Pro-Tour teams to have a women’s equivalent.

I have a strong, inspiring, and professional group of women around me with Boels-Dolmans. We race and train incredibly hard as a team.

I mean, for me, the reason I ride my bike and race is because I love doing it, not because I’m seeking recognition for it.

I don’t look at my emails on the weekend or after 6 o’clock in the day.

It’s fantastic to have the opportunity to race at home, so I wouldn’t miss it.

I will hold my head high in Rio and do my best for Great Britain.

A family is something that I definitely want, but I’m 26, so I have plenty of time, and I try not to kind of confuse the two because, if I’m lucky enough, I want to make having a baby a personal decision rather than a career-defined one.

I’m suited to harsh conditions, I don’t like racing in the heat.

It’s difficult to change things in a positive way.

When I have a family, I will be retired.

I can’t feel sorry for myself.

I trust myself, the way I prepare. I feel like I know what I’m doing.

I’m not at the point of accepting it yet – but I will have to come to the point of accepting that people will doubt me forever.

I like being part of the Great Britain setup. I like feeling I’m at a race that is important and the pressure that goes with it.

I’m a very goal-oriented person, so I look at the specific demands of a certain race and tailor my training towards that.

I won’t try and combine training and a family.

I feel really lucky. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind when Phil asked me to marry him.

I can only tell you that I am a clean athlete and an honest person.

I had to find my own path, and in some ways, it’s been a good thing.

It’s not always about gold medals, I think. It has to be about development, and we are missing that in U.K. at the moment.

I don’t particularly buy into all the nutrition fads and that sort of thing.

I’m quite a strong person, and I’ve become even stronger.

Outside the Olympics, there are massive discrepancies within all sports. But the positive side for me is that the Olympics are the biggest platform there is, and there’s total equality across all sports.

In terms of being a famous person, it hasn’t changed anything. It’s not important for me.

I can’t pick up the phone to everybody that doubts me and explain myself.

I have never cheated anybody out of a victory, I have worked hard for every single race that I have won.

I think about Rio every day. Every day in training, it’s something that drives me forward. I want to be Olympic champion.

As far as I’m concerned, as soon as you reach your goal, then that’s the box ticked for me. I don’t feel the need to repeat titles or repeat victories; as soon as I get the one, then I’m happy.

Any woman in any career has to think about when they have children, if they want to have children, and how it’s going to affect their career.

I pay my taxes.

As a British rider, it’s a privilege to be able to compete on home roads. The British public have really taken to cycling, and you can see that when the race goes through different towns: the community really gets behind it.

I could have been banned. That’s what I was most scared about. All the hard work being for nothing. It was basically my livelihood and my sport being taken away from me. It was everything.

The only thing that I can do – and the only thing that I’ve always done – is to ride my bike fast and get my head down and control the things I can control.

I am proud, but I’m annoyed with myself for not believing in myself enough.

When I have children, it will be my choice, and I won’t feel under any pressure.

It’s something that can get overwhelming and frustrating, the sexism I experience in my career. It’s just obviously a big issue in women’s sport, like salaries, media coverage, just general things that you have to cope with in your career.

The UCI have to make the decision to put in rules into women’s cycling that they have in men’s cycling: you know, like a minimum budget to run a women’s team and that sort of thing so that it becomes more professional.

I’m not a victim, and I don’t need to behave like one.

As a female athlete, I think it’s really important to stand up on a podium and represent females and what we’re capable of, and I always try to make political statements with what I do rather than with headlines.

At the end of the day, cycling is a business, so we have to be able to offer something to a sponsor, and without exposure, that’s going to be difficult, but that’s where the UCI perhaps has to be a little bit stronger.

I will never cheat in any walk of life.

Cyclists need to obey the Highway Code, not run red lights, and not ride with iPods on, and motorists need to be more respectful and look out for cyclists.

I need to go out on a ride feeling full and feeling ready.

I have to make sure I get the right amount of protein and iron, and I take supplements for that. I think people would be surprised if they saw my diet, though; it’s very normal.

It hurts me to consider anybody questioning my performances.

The Rio experience for me is going to be completely different to London.

I never quit. The times when I have quit in the past because I couldn’t face trying harder have stayed with me, and the guilt is not worth it.

I’ve been successful because I’ve never been someone to shy away from taking responsibility.

I used to think that in order to be lean, I had to under-eat.

I’m quite un-traditional.

I feel extremely guilty that I’ve had to put team-mates through extra media questions.

When you are on a climb, you always pick out people’s words of encouragement, and it can push us on, without doubt.

I remember if the telephone rang after 9 o’clock in the house, my mother would say, ‘Who’s ringing at this time?’ We just wouldn’t answer the phone.

I’m one of the most tested athletes in the world.

I remember taking my stabilisers off my bike with my dad in the back garden. It was a small little bike, and it was called Poppy, had balloons on it, and was purple.

Most women’s races don’t pay much at all.