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Lance Armstrong Cuts Phone Interview Short

Lance Armstrong was being on an Irish sports radio show called Off the Ball  in advance of his forthcoming appearance at the One Zero Con sports conference in Dublin

Being interviewed with Ger Gilroy he was asked about his treatment of Greg LeMond and Paul Kimmage.

Armstrong described himself as “a complete dickhead” when asked how he dealt with Kimmage when the Irish journalist was investigating Armstrong’s doping past.

Asked about the testimony given by Betsy Andreu where she stated that Armstrong had admitted to a doctor that he had been doping in 1998.

“I’ve apologised multiple times to Betsy Andreu. Here’s the thing Ger, you’re a big boy, I’m a big boy, she’s a big girl. What I’ve learned is you can’t force someone to accept an apology. Whether it’s the Andreus, whether it’s the LeMonds, whether it’s Emma O’Reilly. I’ve traveled the world to make it right with these people.” Armstrong replied

“I sat in that room not only with Greg and Kathy but with his lawyer and with my lawyer, and there were plenty of other people in that room, and I apologised to them. Never at any time did Greg and/or Kathy say ‘hey, we feel like you owe us financially.’ I don’t need to get into the details of the conversation, the most important part is that I was sorry for my actions, I was embarrassed by my actions, and they accepted the apology.”

“I don’t have a recollection of that conversation. This is perhaps where Betsy and I can never reconcile. She has a strong memory of it and I do not have a strong memory of it. I think it’s highly improbable that at that moment in a patient’s treatment process, that a doctor would come in and have an open conversation about that in front of a bunch of strangers.”

“I’m sorry for the way I treated the Andreus, I have said that. I would love, at some point, for them to accept my apology, but some people just aren’t in that place and may never be.”

Turning his attention to the suggestion that he may well sit down with Paul Kimmage for an in depth interview at some point, Armstrong said: “Paul’s an interesting case. I had one interaction with Paul at the press conference in California. I didn’t handle it right. I’d love to, whether it’s in an interview or over a beer or whatever, I’d sit with Paul any time and say ‘Hey, my bad, I’m sorry. I was a complete dickhead.”

Armstrong appeared to hang up on presenter Ger Gilroy near the end of their 30-minute interview.

You can listen the full interview here.

Lance Armstrong Cuts Phone Interview Short