TORONTO – Disgraced American former cycling star Lance Armstrong is contemplating admitting he used banned performance-enhancing drugs, according to a report from the New York Times.
The U.S. newspaper cites sources saying the seven time Tour de France winner told “associates and antidoping officials” that he is weighing his options to finally come clean.
Armstrong resigned from the board of directors for Livestrong on Nov. 4. He had resigned Oct. 17 as chairman from the charity he founded but had kept a seat on the board.
The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency ordered Armstrong banned from the sport for life and stripped of his titles. The International Cycling Union, which had originally supported Armstrong's fight, later agreed to wipe out Armstrong's record seven Tour de France victories.
USADA's report accused Armstrong of helping run "the most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program that sport has ever seen" within his U.S. Postal Service and Discovery Channel teams.
The USADA report said Armstrong and his teams used steroids, the blood booster EPO and blood transfusions. The report included statements from 11 former teammates who testified against Armstrong.
Armstrong denies doping, pointing to hundreds of passed drug tests. But he chose not to fight USADA in one of the agency's arbitration hearings, saying the process was biased against him. Former Armstrong team director Johan Bruyneel is also facing doping charges, but he is challenging the USADA case in arbitration.
-with files from The Associated Press
© Global News. A division of Shaw Media Inc., 2013.