Actually, his wife came into the picture after he had pretty much beat the cancer.  It was his girlfriend who stayed with him though his ordeal who sort of faded away.  In his book, It's Not About the Bike, he talks quite a bit about his former girlfriend early on but never really goes into what became of their relationship.

No, he's not perfect but on the bike it's hard to find fault with him in how he conducts himself.  He's been great for the sport of cycling and so has OLN for that matter.  We Americans have been devoid of any real coverage of bicycle racing until recently and it's been fun to watch as the guys at work are beginning to discover how interesting it can be.

Kevin g