We sped on, across the plains, toward Metz. I hung back, saving myself. It is called the Race of Truth. The early stages separate the strong riders from the weak. Now the weak would be eliminated altogether.

Athletes don't have much use for poking around in their childhoods, because, introspection doesn't get you anywhere in a race.

My actions and reactions, and the way I treated certain scenarios, were way out of line, so I deserved some punishment.

Your past forms you, whether you like it or not. Each encounter and experience has its own effect, and you're shaped the way the wind shapes a mesquite tree on a plain.

Do it even if you shouldn't, do it becuase you want to, do it becuase it will make things better.

Hard work, sacrifice and focus will never show up in tests.

Lance Armstrong is not the biggest fraud in the history of world sport. US Postal was not the most sophisticated doping programme.