Greg LeMond

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

“If people really want to clean the sport of cycling up, all you have to do is put your money where your mouth is.”

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

“I've always thought that travelling every day as a journalist on the Tour's got to be harder than actually racing.”

“It is cycling as a professional sport that represents the problem. It can transform someone into a liar.”

“I used to trapshoot. I was actually a junior national champion. My parents are trapshooters, so I'm more into target stuff.”

“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.”

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

“Racing is a very selfish, self-centred, self-glorifying thing. My wife's life for 14 years was centered around me. It was all about me. It was all for my ego.”

“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.”

“Seattle is very similar to Minneapolis. I like the culture; I like the people. I raced a bike and won a national championship on Lake Washington in 1977, so I've had a connection there for a long time.”

“There are few things that you can't do as long as you are willing to apply yourself.”

“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.”

“Testing, we will never do enough of it.”

“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 guess I'm a semi-retired person. I work out of my house. I'm a skier in the winter - downhill and cross country. I have a place in Montana for the down-hilling.”

“I want to tell the world of cycling to please join me in telling Pat McQuaid to resign. I have never seen such an abuse of power in cycling's history - resign, Pat, if you love cycling. Resign even if you hate the sport.”

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

“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 love downtown Seattle. It's a city that has all of the outdoor activities and is still a very cosmopolitan city.”