Lance Armstrong has said that a truth and reconciliation commission is the only way for cycling to move on from its drug-addled past, warning that doing nothing would consign the sport to stagnation and decline.
The 41-year-old, who this month admitted that he used a cocktail of banned drugs to win the Tour de France a record seven times, told cyclingnews.com in e-mailed comments: “It’s (a commission) not the best way, it’s the only way.
“As much as I’m in the eye of the storm, this is not about one man, one team, one director. This is about cycling and to be frank it’s about
Armstrong was last year banned from cycling for life and stripped of his career record back to August 1998 after a damning US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) dossier accused him of orchestrating the biggest doping programme in the history of sport.
The revelations of his use of performance-enhancing drugs have rocked the sport, with the International Cycling Union (UCI) governing body accused of turning a blind eye to his activities and mass doping within the peloton.
The UCI is currently at loggerheads with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and USADA over the creation of a truth and reconciliation commission and in particular an amnesty for drug cheats.