Masters of Vision

Interview

The career-changing experience:

Early on, my biggest accomplishment was winning the ’93 World Championship in Oslo, Norway at a pretty young age. I won a stage in the Tour de France that year, too. But my career really changed after the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. When I returned to cycling, my sole focus was the Tour. In ’99, I won my first. A few stages here, a few yellow jerseys there. At that point in my life and my career, that was my No. 1 priority: winning. I was lucky to have a great team of people around me and click off seven in a row.

His security blanket:

I’ve always been a creature of habit — from the foods I like to eat to the bike I care to ride. With eyewear, it was always the same, too. The little things were important. It had to fit — and be functional. It needed to be versatile — if I slid it in my pocket or stuck up on top of my helmet. Plus all the different weather conditions. I found everything I was looking for in the M Frame. I wore it that first year and never changed — when my hand touched it, I knew exactly how it would come off and go back on. It became a very familiar feeling. It was almost like a little kid with his blanket.

Standing up to Mother Nature:

Being that creature of habit, I was always familiar with one frame — and one or two lenses. I always preferred something in the middle because with cycling, you never know what the weather’s going to do. You can start the day in sunshine and end with pouring rain. I think people underestimate what weather can do on the bike — if you’re descending down an Alpine pass at 60 mph, with rain beating on your head, you want to be able to keep your eyes open. At that point, you realize: this is a critical piece of equipment.

Beginning to end:

The eyewear market was really taking off back when I was finishing up triathlons and just getting into cycling. People were starting to wear glasses while competing and we all quickly realized that there was really only one shade you wanted to wear. I’ve been very fortunate to have great eyewear throughout my career. Oakley made a difference helping me compete — on the bike and in life — to win on all levels.