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He's an Olympian, Tour de France stalwart and Tour Down Under winner, but Patrick Jonker says the life of a professional cyclist is far from glamorous. Riding up to 300km a day for three weeks in the Tour de France, the pain is unimaginable and relentless. It is not uncommon for parts of the body to shut down (Pat recalls losing vision in one eye during a hill climb), and the mind also enters a "dark place". The only thing keeping the cyclists going is optimism, and the hope of a big pay day. Making money on the Pro Tour isn't easy, despite the global popularity of the sport. Pat talks about the business of cycling, where riders wait for the cameras and sprint to give their sponsors air time, and the unofficial deals brokered on the road by rival teams. Lance Armstrong changed cycling, for better and then worse. Pat was on Lance's now infamous US Postal Service team, but missed out on Tour De France selection in 2000. While devastated at the time, it kept him out of the team's drug program and the enormous