Cycling is so hard, the suffering is so intense, that it’s absolutely cleansing. The pain is so deep and strong that a curtain descends over your brain….Once; someone asked me what pleasure I took in riding for so long. ‘PLEASURE???? I said.’ ‘I don’t understand the question.’ I didn’t do it for the pleasure; I did it for the pain.

I've read that I flew up the hills and mountains of France. But you don't fly up a hill. You struggle slowly and painfully up a hill, and maybe, if you work very hard, you get to the top ahead of everybody else.

Pain is temporary. Quitting lasts forever.

It's a fact that children with cancer have higher cure rates than adults with cancer, and I wonder if the reason is their natural, unthinking bravery... Adults know too much about failure; they're more cynical and resigned and fearful.

I have been dealing with claims that I cheated and had an unfair advantage in winning my seven Tours since 1999.

Pain is temporary. Eventually it will subside. If I quit, however, the surrender stays with me.

What makes a great endurance athlete is the ability to absorb potential embarrassment, and to suffer without complaint.