Report: Lance Armstrong considering admitting to doping

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The New York Times reported Friday that Lance Armstrong, who has strongly denied the doping charges that led to him being stripped of his seven Tour de France titles, has told associates he is considering admitting to the use of performance-enhancing drugs.

The report cited anonymous sources and said Armstrong was considering a confession to help restore his athletic career in triathlons and running events at age 41. Armstrong was been banned for life from cycling and cannot compete in athletic events sanctioned by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency and the World Anti-Doping Agency.

Yet Armstrong attorney Tim Herman denied that Armstrong has reached out to USADA chief executive Travis Tygart and David Howman, director general of the World Anti-Doping Agency.

Herman told The Associated Press he had no knowledge of Armstrong considering a confession and said: "When, and if, Lance has something to say, there won't be any secret about it."

Armstrong, who recovered from testicular cancer that had spread to his lungs and brain, won the Tour de France from 1999-2005. Although he has vehemently denied doping, Armstrong's athletic career crumbled under the weight of a massive report by USADA detailing allegations of drug use by Armstrong and his teammates on his U.S. Postal Service teams.

The report caused Armstrong to lose most of his personal corporate sponsors and he recently stepped down from the board of Livestrong, the cancer-fighting charity he founded in 1997.

Armstrong is facing other legal hurdles.


Lance Armstrong reportedly is weighing confessing to using banned performance-enhancing drugs and blood transfusions during his run of seven Tour de France titles.

Armstrong, who was stripped in October of his Tour titles and banned for life from competition by the U.S. Anti Doping Agency, is pursuing the admission as a route to regaining his eligibility, the New York Times first reported Friday.

Armstrong's attorney, Tim Herman, told the newspaper, "I suppose anything is possible. Right now, that's not really on the table."

Citing pressure from the cancer-fighting charity he helped create, Livestrong, Armstrong, 41, reportedly has held discussions with his longtime nemesis, USADA Chief Executive Travis Tygart, in an attempt to negotiate the lifetime ban, one person told the New York Times.

Armstrong competed in triathlons and running events when his lifetime ban took effect.

Efforts to reach Tygart and Armstrong's representatives Friday night were not immediately successful.

The World Anti-Doping Code allows for lightened punishment for those who fully detail their doping protocol in a confession.

Armstrong lost a slew of endorsement deals following the USADA ban, and his confession would leave him in jeopardy of perjury cases after giving sworn statements denying use of banned substances in prior legal cases.


Armstrong, 41, who recovered from testicular cancer that had spread to his lungs and brain, had his seven Tour de France titles stripped to go along with the lifetime ban. Although he has vehemently denied doping, Armstrong's athletic career crumbled under the weight of a massive report by USADA detailing allegations of drug use by Armstrong and his teammates on his U.S. Postal Service teams.

The report caused Armstrong to lose most of his personal corporate sponsor, and he recently stepped down from the board of Livestrong, the cancer-fighting charity he founded in 1997.