"A helper that I could beat in my sleep" - Lance Armstrong reveals reason behind 2009 return to cycling

Lance Armstrong was, regardless of opinions, a marking figure in modern cycling. He's talked about his motivations behind the 2009 return to the peloton and described his downfall in a recent interview.

In an interview with Joe Pompliano, Armstrong said of his career: "It was a kind of mythical story, an American ex-cancer patient who won the Tour. But eventually the story collapsed, because cycling - including me - had to deal with a big problem. It was the Wild West and those who didn't play the game didn't stand a chance."

"You come to Europe as a motivated cyclist and you realized it was a different game," he continued, describing a dark era in cycling where doping practices were common. "Once you crossed that line, you were really over it. What is the Tour? Running a marathon every day, combined with Nascar - you have to move constantly - and chess, because you also have to be able to read your game strategically. In addition, it is very similar to politics, maintaining a relationship with other teams. And that for three weeks, with falls and everything around it."

Armstrong ended up winning seven Tour de France editions in a row from 1999 to 2005, but was later stripped of them due to the use of performance-enhancing drugs. This was discovered and the American has fallen into a position as the main figure of cycling's dark history.

"It was the perfect product, against a bad test," he said of EPO, a product used by several riders at the time. "There were always suspicions, from 1999. But, if I hadn't made a comeback, none of this would have come out. Jeff Nowitzky (the man who brought down Armstrong, ed.) went after it, he thought this is the coolest thing ever and he had the authority as a federal agent. I'll never have a beer with him, but he had the power to do it that way. And that's fine," he continued.

Armstrong specifically talked about 2008 Tour de France winner Carlos Sastre and how watching him win was a big reason for his return to the peloton in 2009. "A helper that I could beat in my sleep," he said of the Spaniard. Armstrong rode to third place at the Tour de France that year, behind his teammate Alberto Contador who took the win, and then retired in 2011 following the Tour Down Under.

"That was not possible. That made me think I could come back, but it turned out to be the bridge to the past. However, I don't regret anything, it turned out the way it turned out. You know, I have to live with it," he concluded.