Lance Armstrong: 'In Hindsight' Should Have Kept Cycling and Cancer Separate

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Former cyclist Lance Armstrong admitted during ESPN's "30 for 30" documentary Lance that he often used his recovery from cancer as a "shield" to protect himself from doping allegations during his career and said he should have kept those parts of his life distinct.  

"In hindsight, cycling and cancer should have been kept separate," Armstrong said.

The documentary showed a past clip of Armstrong during an interview, saying that he would never have put his body through a doping regimen to return from cycling after his recovery from cancer. 

Not only was Armstrong regularly using performance-enhancing drugs despite lying about doing so on numerous occasions, but he also led a doping regimen for his entire U.S. Postal Service Pro Cycling Team. 

USADA found in 2012 that Armstrong used EPO and received both cortisone injections and blood transfusions. His ex-teammate, Tyler Hamilton, said he saw Armstrong use a mixture of Andriol (liquid testosterone) and olive oil. Other teammates said he had been injected with human growth hormone and took anti-diabetes drug Actovegin. 

In 2013, Armstrong admitted to doping. 

"I view this situation as one big lie that I repeated a lot of times," he said at the time. "I know the truth. The truth isn't what was out there. The truth isn't what I said.

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"I'm a flawed character, as I well know," he added. "All the fault and all the blame here falls on me."

The fall from grace for Armstrong—a seven-time Tour de France winner and one of the heroes of a generation given his recovery from cancer and the money he raised for cancer research through the Livestrong Foundation—was severe. For many cycling fans and fans of Armstrong's story of perseverance, it was a betrayal of the highest order.