*Oprah Winfrey has booked disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong for his first interview since he was stripped of seven Tour de France titles over doping allegations.
On a special 90-minute Thursday night episode of “Oprah’s Next Chapter,” airing Jan. 17 (9 – 10:30 p.m. ET/PT) on OWN, Armstrong will address the his entire scandal, including years of cheating accusations and charges of lying about the use of performance-enhancing drugs throughout his storied cycling career.
In addition, the interview – to be done at his home in Austin, Texas – will be simultaneously streamed live worldwide on Oprah.com. However, it’s unclear if the stream is of a pre-taped interview or will be done live. Nicole Nichols, a spokeswoman for Oprah Winfrey Network & Harpo Studios, declined comment.
I really hope Oprah can do this story justice and put those other journalists to shame. The Lance Armstrong saga shows how totally clueless American “sports” journalists are about the Tour De France. Once it was more or less confirmed that Lance used drugs, it was like a big shock from American journalists and the beginning of a feeding frenzy. Like where were they for the over 100 years of the Tour De France history? The Tour De France is a team sport, where you are told what to do. You may be the best rider on a team, but if they want you to be a domestique to another rider, that’s what you have to do. And when it comes to doping, it’s the same. Everyone got to do what the team doctor says and take their shots.
I’m not saying that Lance is not wrong, but do the story justice. Put it in its proper perspective and see the bigger picture. Just like with baseball where Barry was continuously vilified in the media, which all seems to cease once it was revealed that that even great yt hope McGwire also used.
Same with the Tour De France. All the great ones did. From Eddy Merckx to Miguel Induráin. This is all about an American winning the Tour De France seven times. The jealous French could not deal with that, but the dumb yanks jumped on the bandwagon, still not having a clue. The same Tour directors who wanted to strip Lance, rode and used in the Tour.
Phil Liggett, one of the best Tour De France journalists was asked if he thought Lance used performance-enhancing drugs in the Tour. His response, “I would be surprised if he didn’t, since everyone else did.”