If you are a bike racer, the word "pain" covers 90 per cent of life. Le Pain is nothing to do with the French word for bread, you have it for breakfast, lunch, pre-race, post race and dinner. Then, of course, there is the race and training pain.

Eating and suffering, let’s start with eating. The idea of consuming large amounts of food day after day during a multi-day cycling race might sound pleasurable, but le ‘pain’ eventually becomes a real pain. It literally becomes a chore to eat.

During a stage race, my calorie intake must account for both my effort on the bike and my increased metabolic rate. This means that I have to eat a huge amount of food, 4000-5000 calories a day…easy. When you think about that number, please keep in mind that I am a little pip-squeak!

'I love to suffer, to take my body to the limits, to challenge my head, and to see how far I can push myself'

I often wonder how it is possible for people so small to eat a large quantity of food. For example, I probably consume 1500-2000 calories before the race, 400-1200 during the race, 300-1000kcal after, and then I have dinner (along with snacks before and after). Here’s another one. At the 10-day Tour de l’Aude stage race, my six girls ploughed through eight large containers of honey. But actually, as the race goes on, it becomes very difficult to eat. By the end, the thought of NOT eating is very appealing. In fact, after the final stage, I often think I will never need to eat again. The funny thing, though, is that I always wake up starving in the middle of the night.

Then, there is the pain on the bike. This is an entirely different story. I love it. I love to suffer: to take my body to the limits, to challenge my head, and to see how far I can push myself. What can I do with my ability? How high can I raise my own bar?

I believe that I am not unique in this sense. I think that most professional cyclists have this gene or some variation of it - at least the ones who like to time trial, climb, and go hard for extended periods of time. It is entirely possible that sprinters have a different gene that allows them to fight for life, liberty and crossing the finish line first while going elbow to elbow at 60k/hr.