Lance Armstrong, 47, blames his 'win at all costs' mentality for his decision to use performance-enhancing drugs and admits he is '100 percent afraid that guy may come back'
- Disgraced American cyclist Lance Armstrong believes it was his 'win at all costs' mentality that drove him to use performance-enhancing drugs
- In an interview that will air on NBC Sports Network on Wednesday night, Armstrong was asked by Mike Tirico how he was driven to use PEDs
- Tirico also asked if he was scared of 'that guy coming back'
- Armstrong did not hesitate: 'Yeah, 100 percent. That would not be good'
- Armstrong returned from cancer to dominate the Tour between 1999 and 2005 but fiercely denied allegations of doping until coming clean in 2013
- The 47-year-old Texan said he was grateful for the lessons he had learned: 'We did what we had to do to win. It wasn't legal, but I wouldn't change a thing'
Disgraced American cyclist Lance Armstrong believes it was his 'win at all costs' mentality that drove him to use performance-enhancing drugs and he admits that he is worried about that aspect of his personality returning.
In an interview that will air on NBC Sports Network after Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals on Wednesday night, Armstrong was asked by Mike Tirico if he was 'driven to this place' by that competitive desire to 'win at all costs.'
'Yep,' Armstrong said in a clip that aired on NBC's TODAY on Wednesday morning.
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Disgraced American cyclist Lance Armstrong believes it was his 'win at all costs' mentality that drove him to use performance-enhancing drugs and he admits that he is worried about that aspect of his personality returning
In an interview that will air on NBC Sports Network after Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals on Wednesday night, Armstrong was asked by Mike Tirico if he was 'driven to this place' by that competitive desire to 'win at all costs'
'You ever afraid that guy is going to come back,' Tirico followed.
Armstrong did not hesitate: 'Yeah, 100 percent. That would not be good.'
Tirico then asked: 'How do you fight that guy from coming back?'
Amstrong thought for a moment before responding.
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'I think I took the first step by telling you I'm afraid he may come back,' Armstrong said. 'If I told you no way, then I think that's a problem.
During the interview Armstrong insisted he 'wouldn't change a thing' about the doping that helped him win seven editions of the Tour de France before he was subsequently stripped of the titles.
Armstrong returned from cancer to dominate the Tour between 1999 and 2005 but fiercely denied allegations of doping until coming clean in an interview with Oprah Winfrey in January 2013, five months after he had been handed a life ban from cycling
Armstrong returned from cancer to dominate the Tour between 1999 and 2005 but fiercely denied allegations of doping until coming clean in an interview with Oprah Winfrey in January 2013, five months after he had been handed a life ban from cycling.
In the new interview with NBC Sports, the 47-year-old Texan said he was grateful for the lessons he had learned.
'We did what we had to do to win,' Armstrong said. 'It wasn't legal, but I wouldn't change a thing – whether it's losing a bunch of money, or going from hero to zero.
'It was a mistake, it led to a lot of other mistakes. It led to the most colossal meltdown in the history of sport. But I learned a lot.'
Armstrong said one of his mistakes was being so aggressive in his handling of questions on the issue at the time.
'I couldn't turn it off. Huge mistake,' he said. 'We'd all love to go back in life and have a few do-overs.
'I never should have taken it on, especially knowing that most of what they said was true.'
Armstrong claimed that he could have won without doping if that was not already the prevalent culture in the sport at the time, comparing anybody who did not dope as like someone turning up to a knife fight with only their fists.
In the new interview with NBC Sports, the 47-year-old Texan said he was grateful for the lessons he had learned. 'We did what we had to do to win,' Armstrong said. 'It wasn't legal, but I wouldn't change a thing – whether it's losing a bunch of money, or going from hero to zero. 'It was a mistake, it led to a lot of other mistakes. It led to the most colossal meltdown in the history of sport. But I learned a lot'
'I wish kids from Plano, Texas; Glenwood Springs, Colorado; Brooklyn; Montana…young Americans, we go to Europe and if everybody is fighting with their fists we still win, I promise you that.
'That's what I wish would've happened. I made a bunch of mistakes but it got me to this place I'm in now and I don't want to trade with anybody.'
But Armstrong said he knew from the start doping was widespread at the time.
'I knew there were going to be knives at this fight,' he said. '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 to the gun store? I walked to the gun store. I didn't want to go home.
'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. I didn't want to go home, man. I was going to stay.'
