Lance Armstrong believes that his is being used as the “ fall guy ” for cycling’s history of doping, and has stated that he thinks no generation of riders have ever being completely free of cheats.
Armstrong recently took part in an interview with Oprah Winfrey where he admitted to doping throughout his seven Tour de France wins, each of which has now been stripped from him. He has since been banned from sport for life and his antics are set to be adapted into a Hollywood movie too.
Talking to Cyclingnews, Armstrong said , “Yes I do, but I understand why,” when asked whether he thought he a “fall guy.”
Armstrong went on to add, “My generation was no different from any other. From hopping on trains a 100 years ago to EPO now.”
“The ‘help’ has evolved over the years, but the fact remains that our sport is damn hard, the Tour was invented as ‘stunt,’ and very tough [athletes] have competed for a century and all looked for advantages. No generation was exempt or ‘clean.’”
Armstrong has also discussed the way in which he feels the sport can move forward from this controversy, stating, “As much as I’m the eye of the storm this is not about one man, one team, one director. This is about cycling and, to be frank, it’s about all endurance sports. Publically lynching one man and his team will not solve this problem.”
“Letting some race the season then giving minor off-season sanctions versus the death penalty (for similar offences) isn’t fair and isn’t about ‘cleaning up cycling.’ It’s about getting your man.”