For 15 years I was a complete arsehole to a dozen people. I said I would try and make it right with those people, and anybody that gave me an audience, I was there.

My advice to you is never stop believing.

There was more happiness in the process, in the build, in the preparation. The winning was almost phoned in.

But the fact is that I wouldn't have won even a single Tour de France without the lesson of illness. What it teaches is this: pain is temporary. Quitting lasts forever.

But, listen, Eddie Merkyx would have won six Tours if he hadn't been punched.

There was certainly a dishonesty there that I think is totally regrettable and inexcusable. The ringleading, the bullying: not totally true.

My greatest point is my persistence... However down I am, I fight until the last ball.