Lance Armstrong: my return in my own words

Donald McRae: What are your main reasons for making this comeback now? Lance Armstrong: There are two parts to it. There's the physical, competitive part of it but there's also the Cancer Foundation part. I had to know that I would be competitive before I went out and did this, otherwise it would have been kind of a joke. Photograph: Friedemann Vogel/Getty

Did the Leadville Trail in August spark your decision to return? The main realisation after that was that I could still be competitive. Leadville climbs 12,500 feet. It’s crazy. You do a lot of climbs and I felt good the first six hours. I was so strong in myself and got myself into a pretty decent shape pretty quickly ... I had been mulling it over before Leadville, but it was just a wild idea. Photograph: Alex Fenlon/AP

Any doubts about returning? I spoke to the board, which is my kids and my ex-wife, and they were totally supportive. As with anything there are going to be up and down sides to it. You lay out different scenarios in your head. What if you won the Tour again? Or the Giro? Or if you won them both? Or you lost them both? Photograph: Olivier Hoslet/EPA

Many in the media are describing your return as something of a freakshow, a horrorshow, a disgrace ... it's hard to know who to believe? I'd love to talk to those guys. I'll say OK, I understand you disagree with this decision but it's my right to come back. And it's my right to put out this global cancer initiative. If you don't like it, so be it. Photograph: Javier Soriano/AFP

You’ve clearly long been aware of the animosity towards you in France — even if there are some cheers for you along the roadside? You hear the boos loudest and you sure feel it when they spit on you. You gotta keep in mind that the Tour is a global event so the roads of France are not purely lined by the French. You’ve got Basque in the Pyrenees, the Belgians, the Italians, the Dutch, the Swiss, the Americans, the Australians — so you hear a lot of support. Photograph: Bryn Lennon/Getty

Are there people who say they could potentially attack you? There are directors of French teams who have encouraged people to take to the streets … elbow to elbow. It’s very emotional out there, you know, very tense. I get emotional about certain things but you know not this one. If I could sit across this table where we’re sitting and talk to this French director, or your cycling friends, you know what I would say? Just fucking relax. Just relax. Photograph: Eric Gaillard/Getty

Is Alberto Contador [lead rider at Astana] cool about you coming back? I don’t know. I haven’t talked to him. I only know what I read and it’s been well documented. He’s hedging a little and that’s understandable. But I try not to believe too much of what I read ... we just have to support the best rider. If it’s me I hope and assume they’ll support me and if it’s Alberto then I’m going to support him 100%. Photograph: Franck Fife/AFP

Is this part of your aim, to silence the doubters once and for all? Well it would have been strange not to do that ... The level of scrutiny I’ve had throughout my career from the press and the anti-doping authorities is unmatched. I’m not afraid of anything. I’ve got nothing to hide ... To the critics I would say, believe it or not, there are exceptional athletes out there. Michael Phelps, exceptional athlete. Paula Radcliffe, exceptional athlete. Photograph: Martin Bureau/Getty

What was your best day on tour? L'Alpe d'Huez 2001. The whole bluff and then the attack. Physically my best day and emotionally my best day. Photograph: Pascal Rondeau/Getty

The best overall Tour? Hard to say. The first was good. I didn’t like 2003 — too many crashes, too close for me. 2005 was also special — breaking the record. I got these cups in this room and upstairs I’ve got the seven jerseys but other than that — even today my bikes are in the next house, in the garage. I’m not obsessed with it. Photograph: Franck Prevel/AP

So what is your schedule for 2009? I go to Australia, Tour of California, a bit of training block there, and then I race in France in late March, in the Criterium International, then back for my training, then the Tour of Romandie in Switzerland and then the Giro and then I break and then the Tour … I still don’t know. Photograph: Franck Fife/AFP

Deep down do you believe you can win an eighth Tour? I have anxiety and nervousness about being 37. Let's not forget I'm the oldest Tour winner in modern cycling history and that was four years ago. But that nervousness makes me work even harder. Photograph: Javier Soriano/AFP

What does your gut tell you? I don’t have any gut feeling. I haven’t even started racing yet. I just think it’s healthy to take it off the table. Time out. Relax. And let me get going in Australia and elsewhere and we’ll see, but if that goes well then you have to think that you’d want to go to the biggest bike race in the world. We can all understand that. Photograph: Steffano Rellandini/Reuters