There is no pill, no drug, that can do for you what one hour of exercise can.

There are so many people who have died of cycling, and that didn't happen when I was racing.

I know it is possible to win the Tour without taking anything.

The problem with being a Tour de France winner is you always have that feeling of disappointment if you don't win again. That's the curse of the Tour de France.

It never gets easier; you just go faster.

I'm lucky that mountian biking wasn't around when I was 20, because I wouldn't have won the Tour de France. It's my kind of sport - hard, individualistic, and not a lot of tactics.

Racing is a very selfish, self-centred, self-glorifying thing. My wife's life for 14 years was centered around me. It was all about me. It was all for my ego.