Lance Armstrong underwent intense "five days, all alone, one-on-one, 10 hours a day" therapy, suffering from PTSD after admitting to doping

Lance Armstrong experienced post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and used an intensive therapy approach in the years after he admitted taking performance-enhancing drugs, the former professional cyclist told The Great Unlearn podcast.  

"I went from hero to zero overnight," the 52-year-old said in the podcast. "A lot of people applauded that. A lot of people thought that was funny. A lot of people thought that I deserved that. And a lot of that’s right. I didn’t think it was funny, but I certainly deserved it."

Read also

Lance Armstrong on current cycling's friendliness and hugging after the finish line: "Never even crossed my mind"

"There was a mile-long list of lawsuits," Armstrong said. "Income went from some exorbitant amount to zero... You can’t go through all of these things without suffering PTSD. I think we as a society hear about PTSD and we associate that with people that have been at war and have lost comrades and have seen death and have killed people... PTSD is not exclusive to soldiers, it’s certainly not exclusive to me."

He said that he went to Onsite in Tennessee, a therapy and counselling retreat. "Onsite is five days, all alone, one-on-one, 10 hours a day," he confessed. He also said that he "threw himself into fitness and health" in the years after his doping confession. "I ran a lot," he added, "I swam. It’s not necessarily a workout I picked up the game of golf."

Read also

Mathieu van der Poel the key to Philipsen's Milano-Sanremo victory: I had to go very deep to get Pogacar back

Former teammate Tony Martin couldn't see Jonas Vingegaard's potential right away: "Grischa Niermann told me back in Jonas's first year that he was the next big thing"

Subscribe to our Newsletter

Unlock your ultimate cycling experience—subscribe today for access to the latest cycling news

Subscribe