When my legs hurt, I say: “Shut up legs! Do what I tell you to do!
If you try to win, you might lose, but if you don't try to win, you lose for sure!
Having things organized is for small-minded people. Genius controls chaos.
If you go (with a break), you can either win or not win. If you don't go for it, you definitely won't win.
I'd like to throw Betsey Andreu and Travis Tygart in a wood-chipper. That would be my idea of a good time. Maybe I could get George to come over and help me clean up after.
If it hurts me, it must hurt the other ones twice as much.
Hopefully I've shown them (fellow cyclists) you just need some self-belief and that you need to take your destiny into your own hands instead of waiting for it. You have to go out and force it. You need to go out and take life, and shape your life and destiny the way you need it. I hope I can pass that message along.
I get paid to hurt other people, how good is that?
Every time I race, I will race so fiercely my legs cry.
I lost quite a bit of skin on the left side of my body and sustained some deep cuts in my hand and around my knee, but the doctors were able to stitch it all back together. Luckily I didn't hurt my shoulder but I'm now at the point where the only thing on my body which isn't hurting is my bad shoulder.
While I'm not very talented at cooking, I am very talented at eating.
After 120 kilometers my body said, ‘ooh, ooh Jens! What were you thinking?’
Cycling is not rocket science.
In the hierarchy of the family, I'm just above the dog. But I like it that way.
Firstly, train lots. Secondly, train hard, the harder the better, no shortcuts. They will always come back to bite you when you least expect it. And third, always remember where you come from. Your parents, family, team, coaches, are the ones who will get you to where you are and will always be there for you.
At the Tour, you always have some fantastic days and some days where you hit the asphalt. Today was an asphalt day for me.
Shut up body and do what I tell you
If there's something left in me, it's better to go down fighting. You've got to have a bit of self-belief and confidence in yourself. I might know that I have only a little chance but I'm a good rider and I try to make it happen. You have to give luck a swift kick in the behind so it falls on your side. You have to make your own luck.
I gave it everything in the last 20 minutes. I knew that I still had the energy, that I was ahead of the mark. I felt euphoric — it was the last 20 minutes of my sporting career.
My only talent is that I have a so-called big engine. I can attack on successive days - well maybe now not so often - or ride tempo at the front of the peloton for a week. I'm not a climber or a sprinter. Whatever makes the race sticky, fast and difficult is good for me. I'm just a big motor - I think I'm allowed to say that - and a fighter. I'll do whatever it takes to make the race.
Apart from the fact that I can move the bike fast, I am basically Joe Average.
I am confident that when I get really old, the human lifespan will be extended.
