Lance Armstrong Admits to Doping in New Oprah Winfrey Interview, Details
Lance Armstrong will admit to doping during his cycling career in an interview with Oprah Winfrey on Monday, USA Today reported.
An insider told the publication that Armstrong, 41, will admit to the charges but "probably will not get into great detail about specific cases and events." The source spoke on the condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.
The sit down will be taped on Monday at Armstrong's house in Austin, Texas, and aired on Winfrey's OWN network Thursday.
Armstrong told The Associated Press about the terms of his interview with Winfrey, saying, "I told her to go wherever she wants and I'll answer the questions directly, honestly and candidly. That's all I can say."
He denied for years in public statements, interviews and court battles that he used performance enhancement drugs during his career as a cyclist, in which he won seven Tour de France victories. Those titles were stripped of him when he declined to take the case to arbitration following evidence released by the U.S. Anti Doping Agency in October 2012. His sponsors dropped him, he was forced to step down from Livestrong, the cancer-fighting charity he founded in 1997, and he was banned from professional cycling for life.
"I have never doped. I can say it again ... but I've said it for seven years. It doesn't help," he told Larry King in 2005. He also testified under oath that year that he has never used performance enhancing drugs.
In July 2004, he noted a lack of "extraordinary proof" that he said was necessary to back up the "extraordinary accusations" against him.
The doping charges have brought a pile of lawsuits against the once acclaimed athlete, including one by Dallas-based SCA Promotions hoping to recover more than $7.5 million an arbitration panel awarded Armstrong as a bonus for winning the Tour de France.
