Travis Tygart, the CEO of the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) has referred to Lance Armstrong’s confession to doping during his seven-year dominance of the Tour de France as “a step in the right direction,” but called for the called for the 41-year-old Texan to do more if he is to “sincerely correct his past mistakes.”
Tygart led the year-long USADA investigation into Armstrong and his team, which finally culminated with the American being stripped of his seven Tour de France wins - and virtually all other results since his comeback from cancer in 1998. Armstrong and his legal team constantly tried to discredit the investigation, referring to it as a “witch hunt” and “a waste of taxpayers’ money”, and tried to have it declared “unconstitutional” in a Texan court.
Armstrong’s admission to Oprah Winfrey that he doped during his career confirmed much of the contents of the USADA file, but many of the charges levelled against the Texan remain unanswered.
“Tonight, Lance Armstrong finally acknowledged that his cycling career was built on a powerful combination of doping and deceit,” says Tygart’s official statement.
“His admission that he doped throughout his career is a small step in the right direction. But if he is sincere in his desire to correct his past mistakes, he will testify under oath about the full extent of his doping activities.”
During the interview Armstrong professed a desire to cooperate with anti-doping authorities, and t take part in a “truth and reconciliation process”; considering the number of issues that were sidestepped during what many see as a partial confession, this remains to be seen.