Quotes from Bradley Wiggins

If I can win the Tour de France, there is hope for everybody.

I still look back and think, 'How did I win the Tour, going day to day under that pressure?'

That's the great thing about the Tour. There's always next year and the chance to rectify everything.

If we went to the Tour, I'd have to think, what would our purpose be? Would it be to win the Tour de France? I'm not sure I want that pressure.

You know what? I've won the Tour de France, and now I feel ready to talk about it.

You speak to the press at the Tour every day, but most often in a negative sense. Ninety per cent of the questions you are asked in the post-race press conferences are challenging or provocative, so you have to justify yourself; you have to try to give the right answers about every topic across the board.

It was what I've always wanted, more than anything: to be an Olympic hero rather than a Tour de France star, something I had from childhood.

When you see it from the outside, then you see just how great the Tour de France is.

It's still the height of every four years for me, regardless of Tours de France and everything: it's all about the Olympics.

My dad was a professional track racer. It's in my genes, and my first memories as a baby were in a velodrome.

Doing 40-minute track sessions is easy money compared to what we were doing on the Tour. What you used to think was hard now feels like a walk in the park.

I feel like I was born to ride the track.

I may never get back to the track. The problem was that I was dominating my event, and the winning became slightly boring. I wanted new challenges, and I've got that on the road.

I can train harder and put myself through more punishing efforts now than I used to do, having done the Tour de France, and come off the road now.

You train all year for the physical aspect of cycling, but you can't plan for what comes next. You're still the same person. External perceptions might change, but inside, you're the same.

I drank because I enjoyed it. I was happy sitting at the end of the bar on my own, reading the paper. I've always enjoyed my own company, and that stems from riding alone. I never trained with anyone - and I still don't. I've always been happy with my own thoughts, and that sums me up as an individual-pursuit rider.

Sir Wiggo sounds nice.

I've been in a lot of pressure situations; I know what I can do.

I've become more of a climber now - who still keeps that time trial as strong as ever. It gives me such self-belief. I feel a different athlete.

I've got an opportunity that not many people have - to be the leader of Team Sky as I enter the prime years of my career.

You have got Team Sky leading the way on a professional front. They are quite open and have done everything possible on an anti-doping level.

I know the freedom that cycling gives you in terms of being able to just jump on and go.

I always found that the more extreme and the more eccentric I was, that's what would separate me. I always felt that I needed that separation; otherwise, I'd just be like everybody else.

I wanted to give an honest insight into a consuming Tour. It's turned out pretty interesting because there aren't many books out there documenting someone's failure.