“I didn't want to take it. I knew it was a powerful drug, but I also knew it was a catabolic drug that consumed the body.”

“I'd just killed some of the best riders in the world - and I was clean. I'd taken nothing - no EPO, no cortisone, no testosterone, no painkillers, no caffeine. I had justified to myself that I was a great rider without drugs - yet perversely given myself the green light to dope again. I'd proved what I could do clean - how much more could I do if I was doped?”

“I was not a doper, I told myself - I just injected myself to recover and needed pills to sleep.”

“I might have changed, but that did not mean the sport had.”

“I was awarded 'Most Aggressive Rider of the Day', generally given to the most spectacular loser of the day.”

“It didn't take a trauma to make you wear a mask. It didn't take your parents getting shot...or cosmic rays or a power ring...Just the perfect combination of loneliness and despair.”

“The manner in which one loses the battle can sometimes outshine the victory.”