New York: Key quotes by Lance Armstrong from the first part of his televised interview with Oprah Winfrey on Thursday.
On whether he had ever used performance drugs in his cycling career - "Yes"
On whether he could have won without cheating - "Not in that generation, and I'm not here to talk about others in that generation. It's been well documented. I didn't invent the culture, but I didn't try to stop the culture, and that's my mistake, and that's what I have to be sorry for, and that's what something and the sport is now paying the price because of that."
On why he decided to finally come clean after years of denials - "I don't know that I have a great answer. I will start my answer by saying this is too late. It's too late for probably most people. And that's my fault. I view this situation as one big lie that I repeated a lot of times."
On whether he forced his team-mates to cheat - "The idea that anyone was forced or pressured or encouraged is not true."
On his preferred drug - "My cocktail, so to speak, was only EPO. But not a lot, transfusions and transfusions. Which, in a weird way, I almost justified because of my history, obviously, with testicular cancer."
On how he felt at the time - "It did not feel wrong ... I did not feel bad about it."
On whether he used drugs after his comeback - "The accusation and the alleged proof that they say that I doped after my comeback is not true. The last time I crossed the line, that line, was 2005."
On accusations that he bullied people - "I was a bully in the sense that I tried to control the narrative."
On his character "I am flawed. Deeply flawed. I think we all have our own flaws."
On what his admission means for his future - "I will spend the rest of my life trying to earn back trust and apologise to people for the rest of my life."
On claims he failed a test at the 2001 Tour of Switzerland and paid the International Cycling Union (UCI) to cover it up - "That story isn't true. There was no positive test. No paying off of the lab. The UCI did not make that go away."
On whether he thought he would get away with it - "I thought I was out of the woods. I just assumed the stories would continue for a long time. We're sitting here because there was a two-year federal criminal investigation."
On whether he would co-operate with doping officials on an investigation - "I love cycling and I say that knowing that people see me as someone who disrespected the sport, the color yellow. If we can, and I stand on no moral platform here, if there was a truth and reconciliation commission, and I can't call for that, if they have it and I'm invited I'll be first man through the door."
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