To be free and to live a free life - that is the most beautiful thing there is.

I'm fascinated by the sprinters. They suffer so much during the race just to get to the finish, they hang on for dear life in the climbs, but then in the final kilometers they are transformed and do amazing things. It's not their force per se that impresses me, but rather the renaissance they experience. Seeing them suffer throughout the race only to be reborn in the final is something for fascination.

My strength was that I am more balanced and calmer than most other riders.

To be free and to live a free life - that is the most beautiful thing there is.

If I had been born with an aggressive character, then maybe my palmares would have been longer.

I did try to win a sixth, but it was not to be.

Everybody tells me that I never look as if I'm suffering. But, when I watch videotapes of a race, I always remember the pain I had to endure.