What athletes do may not be that healthy, the way we push our bodies completely over the edge to the degrees that are not human. I've said all along that I will not live as long as the average person.

It can't be any simpler: the farewell is going to be on the Champs-Elysees.

I love this race from the very depths of my heart. It gives me motivation and it transcendsme like nothing else in the world.

Knowledge is power, community is strength and positive attitude is everything

I'm not a patient person.

There were no shortcuts, I realized. It took years of racing to build up the mind and body and character until a rider had logged hundreds of races and thousands of miles of road. I wouldn't be able to win a Tour de France until I had enough iron in my legs, and lungs, and brain and Heart.

You know what they say, the high trees get the wind.