Disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong has admitted using performance-enhancing drugs, according to reports.
In an interview with US talk show host Oprah Winfrey, the fallen sports star ended a decade of denial, according to the AP news agency.
It cited a source who spoke on condition of anonymity, because the interview is to be broadcast on Winfrey’s network on Thursday.
Winfrey tweeted after the interview: “Just wrapped with @lancearmstrong. More than 2 1/2 hours. He came READY!”
She is scheduled to appear on CBS This Morning on Tuesday to discuss the interview.
Armstrong was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles last year after a US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) report said he was a ruthless competitor, willing to go to any lengths to win the prestigious race.
USADA chief executive Travis Tygart labelled the doping regime allegedly carried out by the US Postal Service team that Armstrong once led, “the most sophisticated, professionalised and successful doping programme that sport has ever seen”.
The interview with Winfrey is Armstrong’s first public response to the USADA report.
He is not expected to have provided a detailed account about his involvement, or addressed in depth many of the specific allegations in the more than 1,000-page report.
The American apologised to staff at his Livestrong Foundation on Monday, saying he was sorry for the distress he had caused. He vowed he would repair the foundation’s reputation.
Armstrong is said to be worth around \$100m (£62m). However most sponsors dropped him after USADA’s scathing report – at the cost of tens of millions of dollars – and soon after, he left the board of Livestrong.
