I'd Probably Cheat Again…Says Lance Armstrong

Lance Armstrong

Shamed cyclist Lance Armstrong believes the time has come for him to be forgiven for doping and lying – and told the BBC he would probably do it again.

Armstrong, 43, was stripped of his record seven Tour de France titles and banned from the sport for life by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) in August 2012.

“If I was racing in 2015, no, I wouldn't do it again because I don't think you have to,” he said.

“If you take me back to 1995, when doping was completely pervasive, I would probably do it again.”

Speaking in his first television interview since confessing to Oprah Winfrey that he had used performance-enhancing drugs during his career, Armstrong said the “fallout” since his confession has been “heavy” and he now lives his life at 10mph, not 100.

He disclosed that his decision to dope was “bad”, but taken at “an imperfect time”; and that he still feels like he won the seven Tour titles he was stripped of, adding that he raced clean during his second comeback in 2009 and 2010.

Armstrong had been the subject of doping allegations since he returned from cancer in 1996 to dominate one of the world's toughest events from 1999 to 2005.

He aggressively denied the claims until USADA's 200-page “reasoned decision” – complete with 1,000 additional pages of evidence - was released in October 2012.

Armstrong finally confessed in a two part interview with US talk-show host Winfrey in January, 2013.

He was forced to step away from the cancer charity he had founded and has since kept his counsel, save for a handful of print interviews.