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

The way the tour has developed has been as good an example of that as you would like to see.

Being on tour is a giggle.

The best thing about being on tour is meeting the fans.

If you do have a team where every rider has a huge list of results, that means everybody wants to do the race for themselves. The strongest team in the Tour is not the strongest team on paper.

It's pretty scripted on the road: very organised and compartmentalised, and that's the way it has to be with so many people involved in a Stones tour.

When you tour, it's so hard on the body. Being in one place is cool. It's a more stable environment.

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

Tour is fun.

I think everyone lifts themselves that little bit extra for the Tour de France, being the pinnacle of our cycling calendar.