CHICAGO (AP) _ Lance Armstrong has stopped racing against the truth. Armstrong admitted in an interview with Oprah Winfrey that he used
performance-enhancing drugs to win the Tour de France. Saying they were his decisions and his mistake, Armstrong said he couldn’t have won the race seven
times without the drugs. Armstrong answered “yes” when asked if he utilized EPO, blood doping and transfusions, testosterone, cortisone and human growth hormone, saying he did it in all seven of his Tour wins.
The interview was videotaped on Monday and aired Thursday on Winfrey’s network. The confession follows a decade of denials by Armstrong, who was stripped of his titles in the wake of a U.S. Anti-Doping Agency report last October. He was banned for life from competing in triathlons and other sanctioned events. He
also lost nearly all his sponsors and left the Livestrong cancer charity he founded in 1997.
Armstrong confirmed he was the ringleader of an elaborate doping scheme on a U.S. Postal Service team that swept him to the top of the podium at the Tour de
France time after time. He said he might not have been caught if not for his comeback in 2009. And he was certain his “fate was sealed” when longtime
friend, training partner and trusted lieutenant George Hincapie was forced to give him up to anti-doping authorities.
The International Olympic Committee sent a letter to the disgraced cyclist Wednesday night asking him to return the bronze medal won at the 2000 Sydney
Games.
The International Cycling Union says Lance Armstrong’s confession of doping is “an important step” toward repairing the damage he did to cycling.
UCI President Pat McQuaid says Armstrong confronting his past, in an interview with talk-show host Oprah Winfrey, moves cycling “forward on the long road” to restoring confidence in the sport. McQuaid said the UCI would welcome Armstrong participating in a proposed “truth and reconciliation process” for cycling. Armstrong told Winfrey he took banned drugs during each of the seven Tour de France victories that were stripped from him for cheating. McQuaid said Armstrong “confirmed there was no collusion or conspiracy between the UCI and Lance Armstrong.” Armstrong reportedly paid the UCI $125,000, which former teammates testified was in exchange for covering up suspicious drug tests.