Perhaps we were a little too active in the race, worked a little too much, ... Maybe the guys are tired.

I realized that the Tour is the one race that makes me tick, ... It's the one that wakes me up early. And it's the one, when I'm suffering like a dog in training, that makes me dig that much deeper. Nothing compares.

Georgia was a great race last year and very tough in terms of its route, ... I hope to defend there, although I think it will be tougher this year.

I feel good, I feel strong and I've had a high quality three weeks since my last race,

The Tour de France is not the only bike race in the world, but it is the biggest, so the possibility could still exist to do a Tour of Italy, a Tour of Spain.

I think the race has everything. I think it has difficulty, it has joy, it has excitement, it even has death.