Lance Armstrong doping allegations

For much of the second phase of his career, cyclist Lance Armstrong faced constant allegations of doping. Armstrong consistently denied allegations of doping until a partial confession during a broadcast interview with Oprah Winfrey in January 2013.

If you consider my situation: a guy who comes back from arguably, you know, a death sentence [i.e., Armstrong's 1996 cancer diagnosis and treatment], why would I then enter into a sport and dope myself up and risk my life again? That's crazy. I would never do that. No. No way.

Armstrong has been criticized for his disagreements with outspoken opponents of doping such as Paul Kimmage and Christophe Bassons. Bassons wrote a number of articles for a French newspaper during the 1999 Tour de France which made references to doping in the peloton. Subsequently, Armstrong had an altercation with Bassons during the 1999 Tour de France where Bassons said Armstrong rode up alongside on the Alpe d'Huez stage to tell him "it was a mistake to speak out the way I (Bassons) do and he (Armstrong) asked why I was doing it. I told him that I'm thinking of the next generation of riders. Then he said 'Why don't you leave, then?'"

Armstrong later confirmed Bassons's story. On the main evening news on TF1, a French television station, Armstrong said: "His accusations aren't good for cycling, for his team, for me, for anybody. If he thinks cycling works like that, he's wrong and he would be better off going home". Kimmage, a professional cyclist in the 1980s who later became a sports journalist, referred to Armstrong as a "cancer in cycling". He also asked Armstrong questions in relation to his "admiration for dopers" at a press conference at the Tour of California in 2009, provoking a scathing reaction from Armstrong. This spat continued and is exemplified by Kimmage's articles in The Sunday Times.

Another notable critic of Armstrong same David Walsh, also a reporter for The Sunday Times. Referred to as a "little troll" by Armstrong, Walsh revealed in a 2001 Sunday Times story that he had ties to controversial Italian doctor Michele Ferrari. Two years later, Walsh's book L.A. Confidentiel alleged, based on testimony by Armstrong's former masseuse Emma O'Reilly, that clandestine trips were made to pick up and deliver doping products to Armstrong's team.

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Wikipedia