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John Giles/PA Wire/Press Association Images

‘Impossible to win Tour without doping’ – Armstrong

“To take one example, EPO will not help a sprinter to win a 100m but it will be decisive for a 10,000m runner. It’s obvious.”

Updated 12pm

SHAMED US CYCLIST Lance Armstrong believes it is impossible to win cycling’s greatest race without using banned substances, he said in an interview with Le Monde today, on the eve of the 100th edition of the Tour de France.

“It’s impossible to win the Tour de France without doping because the Tour is an endurance event where oxygen is decisive,” he was quoted as saying by the French daily.

“To take one example, EPO (erythropoetin) will not help a sprinter to win a 100m but it will be decisive for a 10,000m runner. It’s obvious.”

Armstrong, who won the Tour a record seven times between 1999 and 2005, was last year exposed as a serial drug cheat in a devastating US Anti-Doping Agency report that plunged cycling into crisis about the extent of drug-taking in the peloton.

The Texan rider, who insisted for years that he did not take performance-enhancing drugs, was stripped of his Tour titles and banned from the sport for life.

He then admitted in a television interview that he used a cocktail of banned substances, including the blood booster EPO, testosterone and blood transfusions, to win the Tour. Armstrong told Le Monde that he was not the first athlete to dope and there would always be a doping culture.

“I simply took part in this system. I’m a human being,” he said, admitting that he could never erase the past but would strive to make up for it for the rest of his life.

Five-time Tour winner Bernard Hinault reacted angrily to Armstrong’s comments and his claims that there was a doping culture in cycling.

“We’ve got to stop thinking that all cycle racers are thugs and druggies,” he told BFM TV. “It depresses me to hear all this. I think that when people do exactly what they have to do, in other words, proper testing in all sports, we’re going to be rolling around laughing for five minutes.

“Stop saying it’s cultural for God’s sake. It’s impossible. There are plenty of young riders who’ve had dope tests and not tested positive…

“It’s constant suspicion,” he told the channel from Corsica, where the Tour gets under way on Saturday.

First published 10.30am

© AFP, 2013

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    Mute Barry Aston
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    Jun 28th 2013, 10:53 AM

    Jaysus he is some full blown self loving arsehole altogether.

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    Mute Efan Steffenberg
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    Jun 28th 2013, 11:10 AM

    Unbelievable isn’t it. He’ll be very vocal during this tour, now that he’s on his ‘road to redemption’

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    Mute Colin Murphy
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    Jun 28th 2013, 7:27 PM

    If he could turn around quickly enough he’d f##k himself.

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    Mute joe o shea
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    Jun 28th 2013, 11:02 AM

    wats the story with Bradley Wiggins?? something is amiss after his bizarre interview a few weeks ago

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    Mute David O'Sullivan
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    Jun 28th 2013, 11:10 AM

    There are a few doubts about him, he’s also a bit of a fanny

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    Mute Derek Mills
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    Jun 28th 2013, 12:35 PM

    Complete fanny i’d say!

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    Mute Apu Mohammed
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    Jun 28th 2013, 12:49 PM

    Huge suspicion surrounds Team Sky, they had and still have several shady characters on their staff

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    Mute Steve
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    Jun 28th 2013, 1:30 PM

    Well someone has to win dont they?? If nobody took drugs someone would win the race and they would be clean. Is he trying to say you couldnt even finish the race without taking drugs? Maybe in his head!!!

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    Mute macca
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    Jun 28th 2013, 11:12 AM

    I have always said, even before lance came out as using, that those cyclists in the tour de France were chemists on bikes

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    Mute Carthage Buckley
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    Jun 28th 2013, 9:35 PM

    The man’s arrogance knows no limits. Just because he couldn’t do it, he assumes nobody else could. Why can’t he just go and hide like the embarrassment he is?

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    Mute tayto79
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    Jun 28th 2013, 4:34 PM

    Stephen roache!! Some how can’t see him taking drug’s!

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    Mute Graham Kavanagh
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    Jun 28th 2013, 6:37 PM

    Would be better then if steroids were mandatory for all cyclists?

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    Mute Patrick Blackwell
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    Jun 28th 2013, 7:42 PM

    Lance is a naughty boy and needs a clip on the ear.

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    Mute Jonathan Nolan
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    Jun 29th 2013, 10:56 AM

    And I thought he has Greg Lemond’s number. He must have forgotten bout him

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    Mute Colin Murphy
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    Jun 28th 2013, 9:25 PM
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