Lance Armstrong Confesses To Oprah, But Can We Ever Trust Him Again?

According to sources, in Oprah Winfrey's interview of Lance Armstrong that was taped Monday and will be airing on Thursday on OWN, Lance Armstrong apologized and confessed to using the performance-enhancing drugs he's been accused of using for multiple years.

After all these years of denial and chest thumping, of libel lawsuits and after all the belief and support that fans have put in him, defending him and the likes, through his several Tour de France victories, we now learn that we backed the wrong horse.

In recent time, with sufficient evidence, Armstrong was stripped of his Tour de France wins, forced to abandon his cancer fighting/awareness charity organization, Livestrong, and barred from specific triathlon or running events.

What's also impacted are the libel lawsuits Armstrong won over the years, where he sued various establishments for speaking the apparent truth about his doping.  And he's also looking at having to possibly pay back marketing or sponsor fees that he received for various events.  This includes the Federal Government, when the U.S. Postal Service backed he and his team.

He was worth around $100 million, but with most of his sponsors having pulled out of backing him, his net value seems to be on the decline.  For example, South Australia that it is looking to recoup several million in appearance fees from Armstrong, back when he competed in the Tour Down Under from 2009-11.

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Despite the monies, the most grievous part of this entire process were the betrayed fans who blindly and willingly trusted in his word and backed or defended the man to everyone around them.

I wasn't a fanatic supporter, but I had always quietly thought, "You go Lance!" as he faced his constant detractors accusing him of doping.

And now, it seems he had a fairly elaborate process or system to help his team and himself, to compete.

His ex-wife, Betsy Andreu, has been quoted to saying that even though he's "coming clean" about his past, that this interview is "about Lance first and only Lance."  She says it's an angle to generate the public's sympathy and some sort of angle, related to the lawsuits looming over his head.

Ouch, but then again, she would know.

She quote her present husband in saying that,

"If Lance really wants to confess, let him confess about USA Cycling's role, about the UCI's role, about his financial backers' role, about people in the media like Rick Reilly who protected him…and Oprah herself, who didn't give a rat's ass."

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So come Thursday, we'll see how this interview plays out between Lance Armstrong and Oprah Winfrey.  But no matter what he says, I'll never be able to back him again.

My faith had been wavering a bit, but when he pulled that stunt after having his biking wins pulled, where he posted an image of himself lounging under his yellow jerseys, just did not sit well with me.  Running attitude in the public's face, was not one of his best moves.

And so be it. The rest, is up to you and how you feel about him still.

And yes, this piece dodged his own fight with cancer.  I had to separate the two out because if you don't, this issue gets murky, at best.  And understandably so.  There's more content to absorb over at these two sources I've pointed to...

[sources: Inside TV, VeloNation.]

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