The Armstrong Oprah Interview: Same as it ever was

In the dizzying run-in to Armstrong’s appearance on Oprah, speculation centered on whether he would tell the truth of his career at last. In the opening minutes, Armstrong shot off a series of yes answers.

Yes, I used doping to win the Tour de France. Yes, I used cortisone. Yes, I started doping sometime in the ’90s.

But that was where the truth ended. Despite those brief moments of truthfulness, the Oprah interview unfolded in typically manipulative Armstrong style. The Big Lie came around halfway through the interview, and with it came the rationale for Armstrong’s willingness to sit down with Oprah in the first place.

What was the big lie? Armstrong claimed that he stopped using in 2005. So while he said kissed those seven Tour victories goodbye, he made a desperate, hail mary play for a reduced sanction. The comeback years, the 2009 and 2010 Tour, he rode clean, claimed Armstrong.

Conveniently, 2005 was outside the eight-year statue of limitations. Even a back-dated sanction would free Armstrong to compete pretty much tomorrow.

There’s never been any doubt about Armstrong’s audacity or his hubris. He seems to think that he can still control the narrative, that we will still after all this time, believe his word.

Right man, you were totally clean in 2009. That’s why your biopassport numbers showed constant, rather than declining, numbers during the Tour. That’s why… Well, never mind.

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