James Piccoli

Ex-professional cyclist, author and speaker.

Tell Me I Can’t

A moment of clarity changed my life’s path, and led me down the road to professional sport.

As a kid, I was a bad athlete. One day, I decided to try to go pro” anyway. My story reveals all of the lessons I learned through hardship, bad luck, and struggle on my way to the highest levels of professional cycling.

Male cyclist in blue jersey against black background

An inspirational story for any young athlete, entrepreneur, or other “risk taker” who is chasing their dream.

Think success is going to be easy? Think again. Think you need to show talent early to make it to the top? Not for me. The only skills that high performers seem to have in common are persistence, grit, and patience.

Cyclists competing in a road race, with a leading rider in blue, followed by others in various jerseys, on a wet road surrounded by greenery.