A young Lance Armstrong with Paul Sherwin back in 1992; he insists now his evidence about doping in the sport has protected nobody (Photo: Sirotti)
Disgraced doper Lance Armstrong has confirmed he has appeared before the UCI’s Cycling Independent Reform Commission twice and insisted he will protect nobody in his testimony.
Previously called the truth and reconciliation commission, the process will investigate all aspects of doping in cycling in the 1990s and 2000s.
It will include the UCI’s handling of doping and was established by UCI president Brian Cookson.
He succeeded Ireland’s Pat McQuaid, who was president of the world governing body when Armstrong made his comeback in 2009.
McQuaid was chairman of the UCI road commission for eight years before he took over as president in 2006.
Armstrong remains a compelling character even in retirement, but for all the wrong reasons.
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In an interview with the BBC, Armstrong said he has honoured a commitment to be “first through the door” to testify at the commission when it began.
“I was totally honest, totally transparent. At this point in my life, I'm not out to protect anybody.
“I am only out to protect seven people and they all have the last name Armstrong,” he added in reference to his family.
He described his doping as a bad decision in imperfect times.
"I think all of us, if we go back to 1995; I think we're all sorry.
Armstrong said companies like Trek benefitted enormously from his drug-fuelled performances (Photo: Sirotti)
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"You know what we're sorry for? We're sorry we were put in that place.
“We would have loved to have competed man to man; bread and water. We're sorry we were put in that place."
He said if he was racing again now – he is currently banned for life – he would not dope. But he insisted many people benefitted from what he did at the time.
“I don't think you have to,” he said about whether he would dope now.
“If you take me back to 1995 when it was completely and totally pervasive, I'd probably do it again.
“I look at everything when I made that decision, when my teammates, and the whole peloton made that decision. It was a bad decision in an imperfect time. But it happened.
Lance Armstrong made the Tour de France his own, but all of his wins have been erased from the record (Photo: Sirotti)
"When Lance Armstrong did that, I know what happened because of that. I know what happened in the sport of cycling from 1995 to 2005.
“I saw its growth, I saw the expansion, I know what happened in the cycling industry. Trek Bicycles went from sales of $100 million to a billion in sales.
“Do all those people want us to make a different decision and take that all away? I don't think anybody says yes."
In a preview of the imminent Lance Armstrong: The Road Ahead documentary, the American said his 2009 comeback was a big mistake.
"It was the bridge to the past. If I don't come back, the bridge isn't there. The view over the water is too far.
“But that was my decision. It was one of the biggest mistakes in my life. I don't have a good reason for why I wanted to come back. No reason at all."
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