The ban is completely out of my hands. And I think in most people's minds, even if it's unrealistic to them, it's one that I left myself with no choice on.

No one automatically gives you respect just because you show up. You have to earn it

The way you live your life, the perspective you select, is a choice you make every single day when you wake up. It's yours to decide.

What makes a great endurance athlete is the ability to absorb potenial embarrassment, and to suffer without complaint. I was discovering that if it was a matter of gritting my teeth, not caring how it looked, and outlasting everybody else, I won. It didn't seem to matter what sport it was-in a straight-ahead, long-distant race, I could beat anybody. If it was a suffer-fest, I was good at it.

Truth is, a triathlete won the Tour de France seven times.

Everybody wants to know what I'm on. What am I on? I'm on my bike busting my ass six hours a day. What are you on?

How many times do I have to say it? … Well, it can't be any clearer than 'I've never taken drugs.'