“My first was in 1994 and it's ten years ago already. It's been ten yea...” — Richard Virenque Quote

My first was in 1994 and it's ten years ago already. It's been ten years and I'm still around. I won a stage again, like I did last year and the year before.

The more the years go by, the more difficult it gets. I'm getting old.

It was important to score points today and I went for them with my guts.

He's dangerous, he's beautiful, and he loves the heat, like me - that's why I had a scorpion tattooed on my leg in 1999 after my fifth jersey.

I want to be remembered going off the front, not the other way. After winning my seventh king-of-the-mountains title and winning a stage on Bastille Day, I asked myself, 'What more can I do in cycling?' I want to go out at the top.

I hope that people like us next year like they liked us last year.

My feeling is that no series should run over five years, but I'm glad that 'Bonanza' went as long as it did. I do resent the fact that in the last year, the network switched us from our old slot on Sunday nights to Tuesdays without much of a promotional campaign.

Last year, the surgery was a tough decision, but I had to make a decision based on my career. It was a decision to get healthy, and start over with a new team at 100 percent.

I did find a wonderful girl last year, but the photographs that we did were more about motorcars.