"I have always struggled to achieve excellence. One thing that cycling has taught me is that if you can achieve something without a struggle it's not going to be satisfying."

"I know too that we Americans like to think of ourselves as cleaner than clean, a healthy nation who would never take anything when a recent poll suggested that 65 per cent of the population would risk dying in 10 years if they would be guaranteed Olympic gold."

"Perhaps the single most important element in mastering the techniques and tactics of racing is experience. But once you have the fundamentals, acquiring the experience is a matter of time."

"I know I'll never feel that sensation of racing and winning again and that took a while to get used to. The Tour was a race I never thought I could lose."

"I'm more optimistic about cycling right now than I've ever been."

"I rode in a nine-day charity ride recently, averaged 43km a day and still finished in the lead group. I'm 38, not quite finished yet."

"You don't suffer, kill yourself and take the risks I take just for money. I love bike racing."

"Testing, we will never do enough of it."

"More people should apologize, and more people should accept apologies when sincerely made."

"Even good people are obliged to deceive."

"There are so many people who have died of cycling, and that didn't happen when I was racing."

"Sincere apologies are for those that make them, not for those to whom they are made. Sincere apologies are for those that make them, not for those to whom they are made."