While Lance Armstrong came clean during his tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey that aired on Thursday night, investigators familiar with his case told ABC News that the cyclist lied about when he stopped using performance-enhancing drugs.
Lance Armstrong may have lied during interview, per report
Although he admitted to the use of performance-enhancers, there is a discrepancy between investigators and Armstrong’s claims regarding the 2009 Tour de France.
During the interview, Armstrong claimed that he stopped using the performance-enhancers and blood transfusions in 2005 and did not use them in 2009:
“That’s the only thing in this whole report that upset me,” Armstrong said during the interview. “The accusation and alleged proof that they said I doped [in 2009] is not true. The last time I crossed the line, that line was 2005.”
However, investigators told ABC News that there was some very clear proof to suggest that Armstrong did use blood transfusions and that blood tests from the 2009 Tour de France “showed clear blood manipulation consistent with two transfusions.”
Armstrong won seven consecutive Tour de France titles between 1999 and 2005 before retiring from the sport professionally. He returned to compete in the 2009 Tour de France, but finished third, before announcing a second retirement from the sport.
In August, Armstrong was officially banned from the sport and was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency after announcing that he would not challenge the agency’s doping charges.
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