Erik Wemple with the Washington Post on reactions to Lance Armstrong's interview with Oprah Winfrey.
On Thursday during the first of his two-part interview with Oprah Winfrey, Lance Armstrong acknowledged calling the wife of former US Postal Service cycling teammate, Frankie Andreu, crazy. Betsy Andreu was furious on CNN’s AC360 and very emotional after the now-disgraced cyclist ducked Oprah's questions about her.
In 1996, when Armstrong was recovering from surgery to remove tumors from his brain at an Indiana hospital, Frankie Andreu and his wife Betsy went to visit him. The Andreus would later testify that they heard Armstrong list off all the performance enhancing drugs he had taken to two doctors. Armstrong vehemently denied that under oath and repeatedly attacked the Andreus.
This morning, Andreu joins “Starting Point” to discuss the first 90-minute installment which aired on Winfrey's OWN cable network.
In the first installment of his interview with Oprah Winfrey that aired Thursday night, now-disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong described himself as "deeply flawed," and "a bully.” Armstrong who was recently asked to return his bronze medal from the Olympics was also stripped of his seven Tour de France titles after the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency accused Armstrong last October of being involved in a sophisticated doping program.
During the interview, Armstrong discussed using an array of substances like testosterone and human growth hormone, as well as EPO - a hormone naturally produced by human kidneys to stimulate red blood cell production in addition to blood transfusions. This morning two-time U.S. professional cycling champion and cycling Coach John Eustice weighs in on the first 90-minute interview and possibilities from the second installment set to be broadcast Friday night.
This morning on "Starting Point with Soledad O'Brien," two-time Cycling Champion John Eustice weighs in on Lance Armstrong's doping admission. Eustice says Armstrong was part of a wider doping 'system' in sports.
"I think Lance is a lifetime athlete and he understands how the system works," Eustice says. "He understands where his position is, and he doesn't feel he should be the only one punished as representative of an entire system of stardom and money and money generation."
"I think there are at least ten other teams in the Tour De France that have exactly the same system as during his era," Eustice says.
Watch more from the interview in the video above.
Paul Willerton, fmr. teammate of Lance Armstrong's cycling team, weighs in on Armstrong's doping admission.
For a decade Lance Armstrong has vehemently denied cheating while winning a record seven Tours de France. On Tuesday, Oprah Winfrey confirmed media reports that say Armstrong acknowledged using performance-enhancing drugs to advance his cycling career during their taped interview. During the interview which was taped Monday night in Armstrong's hometown of Austin, Texas, the former cyclist was described as emotional at times.
After CBS and other media outlets reported that Armstrong admitted using banned substances, Winfrey said her team and Armstrong's camp had agreed not to leak details of the interview but agreed to talk because "it's already been confirmed." The interview will air over two nights, beginning at 9 p.m. ET Thursday on the Oprah Winfrey Network. Winfrey has promised a "no-holds-barred" interview, with no conditions and no payment made to Armstrong.
Sources are telling CNN that Armstrong is also considering paying back some of the money he received from the U.S. Postal Service during the six years it sponsored his team. Reed Albergotti is a legal reporter for the Wall Street Journal. This morning he joins “Starting Point” to discuss his article focusing on Armstrong's decision to talk now.
Sports Illustrated.com anchor Maggie Gray on the Lance Armstrong doping conspiracy and the Pacquiao vs. Bradley match scoring dispute.