This July 23, 2000 file photo shows Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong riding down the Champs Elysees with an American flag after the 21st and final stage of the cycling race in Paris, France, Armstrong was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and banned for life by cycling’s governing body Monday, Oct. 22, 2012, following a report from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency that accused him of leading a massive doping program on his teams. UCI President Pat McQuaid announced that the federation accepted the USADA’s report on Armstrong and would not appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. (AP FILE PHOTO/Laurent Rebours
NEW YORK — Disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong, who was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles for doping, is weighing whether to admit he used performance-enhancing drugs, The New York Times reported Friday.
Armstrong has told associates and anti-doping officials he is considering admitting publicly that he used blood transfusions and banned drugs during his cycling career in an effort to restore his credibility so he can become a competitive athlete again, the newspaper reported.
The Times did not name its sources but cited “several people with direct knowledge of the situation.”
The International Cycling Union (UCI) late last year effectively erased Armstrong from the cycling history books when it decided not to appeal sanctions imposed on the American by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA).
A damning report by USADA concluded that Armstrong helped orchestrate the most sophisticated doping program in the history of sport. The report included hundreds of pages of eyewitness testimony, emails, financial records and laboratory analysis of blood samples.
Armstrong has vehemently denied ever having doped.
Tim Herman, a lawyer for Armstrong, told the Times he was not aware of any admission plans.
“I do not know about that. I suppose anything is possible, for sure. Right now, that’s really not on the table,” Herman was quoted as saying.