Motivation Quote by Greg LeMond

LeMond’s line lands like advice from someone who’s spent a career in a sport where pride is oxygen and blame is a handy way to keep breathing. Cycling is built on razor-thin margins, public scrutiny, and a culture of toughness that can turn any concession into weakness. Against that backdrop, “More people should apologize” isn’t self-help pablum; it’s a challenge to the performance of invulnerability that athletes (and everyone watching them) are trained to reward.

The second half is the sharper blade. Plenty of public figures “apologize” as a PR maneuver, and plenty of audiences treat apologies as proof of guilt that should be punished, not resolved. LeMond threads the needle by adding “when sincerely made,” a quiet insistence on authenticity that also implies how rare sincerity has become. He’s not asking for endless groveling; he’s arguing for a functional social contract where admitting harm can actually repair it.

Subtextually, this is about power and exit ramps. Refusing to apologize preserves status; refusing to accept an apology preserves superiority. Both moves keep conflict alive because it’s useful: to fans, to media cycles, to rivalries, to online tribes. LeMond proposes a less glamorous ethic: accountability paired with grace. It’s a pragmatic vision of humility, not a sentimental one - the idea that communities (teams, families, public life) can’t keep operating if every mistake becomes a life sentence and every apology is treated like a trap.