Lance Armstrong 'Wouldn't Change a Thing' About Doping Despite Stripped Titles

Lance Armstrong doesn't have any regrets about using illegal performance-enhancing drugs that ultimately led to him being stripped of seven Tour de France titles. 

In an NBC Sports Network special with Mike Tirico (h/t Associated Press) that will air Wednesday, Armstrong explained he "wouldn't change a thing" about what happened:

"I wouldn't change the way I acted. I mean I would, but this is a longer answer. Primarily, I wouldn't change the lessons that I've learned. I don't learn all the lessons if I don't act that way. I don't get investigated and sanctioned if I don't act the way I acted. If I just doped and didn't say a thing, none of that would have happened. None of it. I was begging for, I was asking for them to come after me. It was an easy target.

"We did what we had to do to win. It wasn't legal, but I wouldn't change a thing—whether it's losing a bunch of money, going from hero to zero."

The International Cycling Union stripped Armstrong of his Tour de France titles in October 2012, shortly after the United States Anti-Doping Agency accused him of doping and drug trafficking based on blood samples and interviews with 26 people. 

Armstrong admitted to cheating throughout his cycling career during a January 2013 interview with Oprah Winfrey, calling it "one big lie, that I repeated a lot of times."

As a result of his admission, Armstrong resigned as chairman of his Livestrong charity and lost endorsement deals with Nike and Anheuser-Busch.

Armstrong won a record seven straight Tour de France titles from 1999-2005 prior to having them stripped from his record.