Lance Armstrong said his use of performance enhancing drugs had no impact on the results of his Tour de France races.
The disgraced former cyclist made the extraordinary comments back in 2019, seven years after he was found to have used performance-enhancing drugs.
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Armstrong was stripped of his seven Tour de France titlesCredit: Getty Images – Getty
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The disgraced cyclist made a bold claim about his victories back in 2019Credit: Getty
Armstrong won seven consecutive yellow jerseys between 1999 and 2005.
However, he was later stripped of all of those titles and banned from the sport for life following an investigation into alleged doping.
The American was found to have used performance enhancing drugs during his career when the results were revealed in 2012.
Despite subsequently having his Tour de France titles removed from his record, Armstrong continues to display the yellow jerseys in his office.
Meanwhile, he made a bold claim six years ago that he would have won the Tour de France if everyone was clean, including himself.
Speaking to NBC Sports in 2019, Armstrong explained: “What I wish would have happened, I wish kids from Plano and Glenwood Springs, Colorado, and Brooklyn and Montana, as young Americans, if we’d have gone to Europe and everybody was fighting with their fists, we (would) still win. I promise you that.
“What did we say? We said we worked the hardest, had the best tactics, best team composition, best director, best equipment, best technology, recon the courses. All the things we said, we did.
“We left out a part, but we did all that stuff. Because now this one thing is part of the story doesn’t erase all that. All that happened.
“If you just had this one thing and did none of that, you get last.”
He added that a belief performance enhancing drugs were needed to compete in Europe was key to the decision to cheat.
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Armstrong claimed he would still have won had every athlete been cleanCredit: Getty
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The American was also banned from cycling for life for his use of performance enhancing drugsCredit: Getty
Armstrong continued: “That wasn’t just a feeling, that was a fact.
“I don’t want to make excuses for myself that everybody did it or we never could have won without it.
“Those are all true, but the buck stops with me. I’m the one who made the decision to do what I did, and it was … I didn’t want to go home, man. I was gonna stay.
“I told you earlier, I don’t lay down. And it was the wrong decision, but laying down would have been giving up, going home.
“I knew there were going to be knives at this fight, not just fists. I knew there would be knives. I had knives, and then one day, people start showing up with guns.
“That’s when you say, ‘Do I either fly back to Plano, Texas, and not know what you’re going to do? Or do you walk over to the gun store?’ I walked to the gun store. I didn’t want to go home.”
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Despite his ban from cycling, Armstrong remains a part of the sport, albeit in a less public manner.
His podcast ‘The Move’ sponsors co-host George Hincapie’s Modern Adventure Pro Cycling team.
Meanwhile, the 53-year-old has also offered support and advice to fellow former riders.
Those include 2012 Tour de France winner and five-time Olympic gold medallist Bradley Wiggins.
Armstrong has helped play a role in the Brit’s battle with drug addiction, Wiggins previously revealed.
The 112th edition of the Tour de France begins in Lille on Saturday before 21 stages culminating in Paris on July 27.