Lance Armstrong to Admit He Doped: Performance Enhancing Drugs Weren't the Win All Solution

In just a few days, Lance Armstrong will admit he did indeed use performance enhancing drugs. His interview on Oprah appears to be his tear jerker appeal to the country for forgiveness so he can move forward with his triathlon career and possibly stop the financial bleeding that has put former teammate Floyd Landis in the poor house.

Rumors came out last week Lance was going to Oprah to confess. Those rumors appear to be truth today.

The AP reports:


Lance Armstrong plans to admit to doping throughout his career during an upcoming interview with Oprah Winfrey, USA Today reported late Friday.

The interview, scheduled to be taped Monday and broadcast Thursday night on the Oprah Winfrey Network, will be conducted at Armstrong's home in Austin, Texas.

Citing an anonymous source, USA Today reported that the disgraced cyclist plans to admit using performance-enhancing drugs, but likely will not get into details of the allegations outlined in a 2012 report by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency that led to Armstrong being stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and banned for life from the sport.

Lance won't go into details beyond his admission. Doesn't sound like much of an interview. It also sounds like Lance Armstrong is going out of his way to protect his teammates and others around the sport.

You know, if you think that performance enhancing drugs gave Armstrong an edge you are sadly mistaken. You see, most of the riders in the professional peloton were also using drugs. To me, while I admit it is disappointing to have to hear this admission, it does take the focus off the hard work Armstrong still put in to win the Tour. Granted, most of the entire professional cycling community during the Armstrong era was on something meaning the drugs created an level playing field for most, there was still the training aspect that was responsible for the Armstrong wins. Unfortunately, that hard work is being overlooked as Lance makes his admission this week.

I want you to consider the following facts about recent winners of the Tour France:

The 1996 winner Bjarne Riis admitted to doping, and yet he is still listed as the 1996 Tour de France winner.

The 1997 winner Jan Ullrich was caught doping, and yet as of today he is still listed as the 1997 Tour de France winner.

The 1998 winner of the Giro d Italia and Tour de France Marco Pantani too tested positive for performance enhancing drugs and still holds the titles.

You can see where Lance Armstrong's wins have now been listed as vacated from 1999 to 2005.

The 2006 Tour was won by American and former Armstrong teammate Floyd Landis who tested positive for testosterone use.The title was stripped from Landis and give to Óscar Pereiro. On January 18, 2007, the French newspaper Le Monde reports Pereiro tested positive during the 2006 Tour de France. Yet Pereiro kept his title.

Two time winner of the Tour de France Alberto Contador too was found guilty of doping. Yet, his two tour wins stand.

So I ask once again, why do these other men keep their titles as they participated in the peloton's dark secret why Lance Armstrong's name is removed from the history books?