Ask Switzerland’s greatest cyclist, Fabian Cancellara, what it takes to achieve success in the saddle and you’ll get an answer that’s entirely fitting with his nickname “Spartacus”, after the Thracian gladiator who led a Roman slave revolt. ‘You need a winning mentality, the will to suffer and to almost die for it to reach that level,’ he explains. ‘I was always racing to win.’

Cancellara’s path to cycling glory started aged 13, when a 1980s Italian Chesini road bike caught his eye. ‘My dad had it in storage and I asked him if I could use it. I went for a ride and that was it. It had six gears – so it wasn’t super old. It was just a really special thing to me.’

Hanging up his football boots to focus on cycling, Cancellara’s dogged determination led to his first major victory in 2004, when he won the opening prologue time trial of the Tour de France, aged 22. Over his illustrious 16-year pro career, he racked up a total of 88 wins across the key Grand Tours and time trials, including the Vuelta a España, Tour de France, Giro d’Italia, World Championships and, of course, the Olympics. He was time-trial world champion four times.

After bagging gold and silver at the 2008 Olympics, Cancellara – now in his mid-30s – approached the 2016 Rio games, set on adding a final medal to his cabinet before bowing out. ‘I left for Rio and said to my family, “If I win the Olympic Games, I’m gonna retire”. I’d reached this moment in training where everything came together and I became a beast, mentally – a total killer, intent on that gold medal. I didn’t want to be in the top three. I wanted to win, to say goodbye on a high,’ he recalls. Cancellara finished 47 seconds ahead of silver medallist Tom Dumoulin in the 54.5 km race. His dream swansong had come to pass.

Retirement has kept Cancellara occupied. Alongside consulting for leading cycling brands, he’s also heading up the Tudor Pro Cycling Team – the Swiss professional team backed by maison Tudor to train the next generation of two-wheeled champions. The Swiss horology house, known for its bulletproof movements and athletic heritage models, has created a variant of the Black Bay Chronograph for the Pro Cycling Team crew, so they can keep tabs on their road time – and it’s a design that’s won over Cancellara. ‘You can wear it for sport, but it’s also sleek enough for meetings,’ he says. ‘It’s a watch you can wear 24/7, with anything and it just works.’

As well as leading the next generation of riders, Cancellara also runs Chasing Cancellara – an experiential concept that organises races around the world, offering cyclists of all abilities the chance to ride with one of the world’s Grand Tour legends. ‘It’s made for people who want to share the experience of a challenge and to feel like a champion when you cross the finish line. We do night rides – the sounds of nature, riding at 4am and into the sunrise and the camaraderie that comes with that are amazing.’

So while Spartacus might have left the arena, this champion is busy bringing the next cohort of pedal-pushing adventurers to the fore.

Tudor Black Bay Chrono, stainless steel with 41mm black dial, £4,550; tudorwatch.com; chasingcancellara.com