The mind of any sportsman is special, something us mere mortals really cannot understand. When we talk about toughness, or bravery, the limit athletes go to reach their very top is something that we can only admire and respect. Days and days of repetitious drills, broken bones, and broken dreams. Some make it through that torture and get to become the greatest in their sport.

Stefan Everts and MXlarge have been supported by Acerbis: Acerbis motorsport

Having sat through 10 episodes of the Last Dance (a few years ago), a documentary about the Chicago Bulls and Michael Jordan, you got to investigate the mind of one of the greatest sportsmen of all time, Michael Jordan.

A man known Worldwide for his achievements and never say die determination, Jordan, like Muhammad Ali in boxing, Jack Nicklaus in golf, Babe Ruth in baseball, or Usain Bolt in sprinting, he was the greatest in his chosen field. 

When we speak Grand Prix motocross, there is one man who stands head and shoulders above the rest, and that is Stefan Everts. 101 Grand Prix wins, 10 World motocross championships and an even longer list of other international success.

Everts wasn’t just a racer, he was a man who put down unbelievable stories over and over and over again. More Grand Prix victories and World championships than anyone before him or after, and now nearly two decades into his retirement, we called him up and talked about one of the most dramatic times in his career and also his Last Dance. Everts vs Tortelli 1998 and 2006. 

Having tasted defeat to Sebastien Tortelli in a roller-coaster 1998 250cc championship, a season that saw him race a 500cc Grand Prix at Namur as a wildcard, and beat the seemingly unbeatable Joel Smets, and end the season with a victory at the Motocross des Nations at a very muddy Foxhills circuit, but the biggest prize of becoming a five time World motocross champion and join the likes of Roger De Coster, Eric Geboers and Georges Jobe in the all time list, was gone. Instead Everts left Megalopolis, Greece it seems ruined from a meltdown that is until this day still a mystery to "The King".

We go through that Greek disaster and also his 2006 early season battles with Tortelli. In his words, Stefan Everts gives us an inside look into his mind-set.

Images Geoff Meyer, Ray Archer and Gary Freeman