Cycling is based so much on form, on aesthetics, on class - the way you carry yourself on the bike, the sort of technique you have.

I like my hands. Which is lucky as I have to spend all day looking at them on the handlebars.

Survival is the main objective. There are going to be some awful days, I know that from my background in the sport.

If you're not at the front, you're not in the race.

Cycling is based so much on form, on aesthetics, on class - the way you carry yourself on the bike, the sort of technique you have.

The manner in which one loses the battle can sometimes outshine the victory.

My epiphany came in that police cell: I realized I was about to lose everything and it didn't bother me, not in the slightest. I'd come to hate cycling because I blamed it for the lie I was living.