Quotes from Mark Cavendish

I do want to race motorbikes when I retire.

I want to provide the best possible life for my daughter. I want her to be so proud of me. You know, I never rode just for myself. I did it for my team as well. But this feels different. This feels like I'm riding my heart out for her.

I always go for broke. It's win or nothing for me.

I need to be on a bike, mentally as much as physically.

You concentrate just on yourself. I can't wallow in anything, can't worry about what others are doing.

The beautiful thing about cycling is that it is so accessible and that pleased me when I was younger because you felt like you could almost touch the athletes.

For any young rider even competing in the San Remo is one of the biggest things - but to win it is beyond emotion. You can't put it into words.

I like to have plans in place so I know what I am doing and when. Take nutrition. When I am on the bike I will start off eating solid food like rice cakes made with pistachios or energy bars. Then as the race goes on, halfway though I will switch to gels as they get into your system more quickly and they are easier to palate when you're tired.

The perception is that I've always made winning look easy. People think it's easy, but they don't see what's behind it, the time away from the family. The days spent climbing, training out in all weather, climbing but trying to keep the speed for the sprint.

If I do a circuit, then after three laps I could tell you where all the potholes were.

I have to cross the line first. Sometimes you can put it as a fear of losing, but actually it's an addiction to winning.

Second doesn't mean anything in cycling.

I'm fortunate in one way and I can take pride from the fact that I've consistently performed for 10 years, which is something that not many people can do. I've consistently stayed near the top for 10 years which is maybe something that is overlooked and taken for granted.

I think any professional athlete who says they stick to a strict diet and weigh their food out every time is either lying or they're sick.

I used to walk down a street and nobody would notice me. Now, I get stopped all the time; people saying, 'well done'. It makes me really, really proud to have done my bit to help make cycling a little bit more popular.

The thing with depression is you don't realise you have it and even when you do you don't want to realise you have it.

I'm not getting bored with cycling or winning - I love it. But I need to give myself new targets all the time.

In a sprint you make 100 decisions a second. What if X goes now and Y goes then? Should I take this gap or that one? You have to be sharp. Over time it becomes instinct.

You can believe or you can doubt yourself. It's the difference between a gap being one metre late that you're gonna launch, then it's three seconds and you're sat on the wheel and you're about to lose.

You can only pre-plan stuff to a certain degree because there are so many variables - road conditions, weather conditions, mechanicals... You have an idea of whose wheel you want to be on.

It's been reported a lot that I've had two bouts of mononucleosis. The evidence suggests it wasn't two bouts, it was the same bout. I never got over it the first time. That's hard to explain to people. It makes it look like I'm not very resilient, whereas it was completely mismanaged.

Everybody who rides a motorbike thinks they can ride MotoGP. Anybody who does a Gran Fondo thinks they can do pro cycling. Anyone who drives a Corsa thinks they can do Formula 1.

When you're a young pro from an undeveloped country in road cycling then you're on the back foot.

Cycling is unique in that in any other sport I'd be in a different weight category or discipline. What I do is a different sport to what Chris Froome does.