In a recent interview, Lance Armstrong says that he would still be deflecting accusations of drug use, with strident denials, if he hadn’t been caught.
"If this stuff hadn’t taken place with the federal investigation, I’d probably still be saying ‘no’ with the same conviction and tone as before. But that gig is up," Armstrong said in an interview with CNN.
For more than a decade, the disgraced cyclist repeatedly denied ever using banned substances, and retaliated and bullied others who accused him of doing so.
As many now know, Armstrong was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles in 2013 for doping, and was handed a life ban from the sport, after admitting during a televised interview with Oprah Winfrey, that he routinely engaged in the systematic use of banned drugs – during his Tour de France tenure.
"No one forced me or bullied me, so I am not going to say ‘It’s not my fault’ I blame myself, that’s the bottom line," he said.
The 42-year-old Armstrong said that his "day-to-day life is positive".
"I never get crap, not once, and I’m surprised by that. Sure, I sometimes get the vibe that someone wants to say something, but it’s never happened," he said.
Armstrong has granted several interviews as of late, but denies they are part of a carefully choreographed public relations campaign – to try and rebuild his tattered image.
"I know at times it looks like it, but there’s no PR campaign," he says. "There’s not a big study room where we’re bouncing off ideas saying, ‘Let’s do Esquire, let’s talk to (CNN).’ I’m just flying by the seat of my pants."
He added he plans to write a third book that "needs to be pretty intense and transparent" "I need to write a book and it needs to be pretty raw," says Armstrong.
"The book needs to be pretty intense and transparent. I need to ‘boom’—put it out there and let it sit.
"The sooner the better. It has to be the right book, the right tone and there has to be totally no bullshit."
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