Never has an athlete's retirement been so welcome.
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It's great to beat your goals -- and it's not that sports goals are bad, but this one was much better, ... This combines my two main passions in life, outside of my children.
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Sitting here today, dealing with all this stuff again, knowing if I were to go back, there's no way I could get a fair shake on the roadside, in doping control, or the labs,
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The truth is, if you asked me to choose between winning the Tour de France and cancer, I would choose cancer. Odd as it sounds, I would rather have the title of cancer survivor than winner of the Tour, because of what it has done for me as a human being, a man, a husband, a son, and a father.
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At the end of the day, if there was indeed some Body or presence standing there to judge me, I hoped I would be judged on whether I had lived a true life, not on whether I believed in a certain book, or whether I'd been baptized. If there was indeed a God at the end of my days, I hoped he didn't say, But you were never a Christian, so you're going the other way from heaven . If so, I was going to reply, You know what? You're right. Fine .
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I didn't know, ... I had no idea ... maybe bike related, maybe I hit it somehow, maybe sex related! But I said, 'This is ridiculous,' and the pain just wouldn't go away.
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Through my illness I learned rejection. I was written off. That was the moment I thought, Okay, game on. No prisoners. Everybody's going down.
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Without cancer, I never would have won a single Tour de France. Cancer taught me a plan for more purposeful living, and that in turn taught me how to train and to win more purposefully. It taught me that pain has a reason, and that sometimes the experience of losing things
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The latter part of the year with the rumor, that was a nightmare. Fortunately, sports fans see through it.
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Pain is temporary, quitting lasts forever.
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For cycling and the community, it's a big step. This would be a great way to bring kids into the sport and have them around coaches that are constantly observing them. I hope it happens.
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Dealing with all this stuff again, knowing if I were to go back, there's no way I could get a fair shake - on the roadside, in doping control or the labs,
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I know people who have ridden with him, ... I can tell you he's one very competitive guy. Very competitive, there's no talking. A few minutes of warm up time, a little chitchat, then you go.
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I opened it back up because in my heart it seemed like the right answer. But now I know I couldn't go to France and get a fair shake on the road, in doping control or the hotels.
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I look forward to achieving my goal of a seventh Tour de France (victory),
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You do 'Larry King Live,
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And you saw how they reacted.
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To all the cynics, I'm sorry for you, ... I'm sorry you can't believe in miracles. This is a great sporting event and hard work wins it.
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He's training and will evaluate (whether to participate) when the time comes,
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He has the best condition. Tomorrow, he is the favorite. I have insider information,
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Perhaps we were a little too active in the race, worked a little too much, ... Maybe the guys are tired.
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never taken performance-enhancing drugs.
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not happy because Lance did them in front of their own birds.
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My son Luke thinks it's cool that his dad quit his job,
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the best thing that ever happened to me.
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