Former two-time Tour de France winner Laurent Fignon, who is battling cancer, said on Sunday he has no fear of dying.
“You either fight or you die,” the 1983 and 1984 Tour champion told the Journal du Dimanche newspaper.
“I have no desire to die, but I’m not afraid. I’m not particularly brave nor fearful,” said the 48-year-old who tested positive for illegal substances twice in the late 1980s.
Fignon has penned a book about his career, “We were young and unconcerned” which documents his highs and lows.
“In those days everyone was doing it,” he explains in the book. “But it is impossible to know to what extent doping harms you.
“Whether those who lived through 1998, when a lot of extreme things happened, will get cancer after 10 or 20 years, I really can’t say,” added Fignon, who also won the 1989 Giro d’Italia and the Milan-Sanremo classic in both 1988 and 1989.
In his newspaper interview, Fignon added: “If it all came to end quickly, I wouldn’t have many regrets. I have had a beautiful life.”