VIDEO | Lance Armstrong flashes disgraced yellow jersey collection in beer advert

Lance Armstrong may have been erased from the official Tour de France record books, but in the world of cycling, his shadow remains unmistakable. More than a decade after he was stripped of his seven Tour titles following one of the most infamous doping scandals in sporting history, the Texan is once again making headlines, not for a comeback, but for a beer commercial.

In a new ad for Athletic Brewing, a company that specialises in non-alcoholic beer, Armstrong is seen in a room adorned with seven yellow jerseys. “There’s something about the colour yellow,” he says, pausing as the camera glides past the unmistakable symbols of Tour de France supremacy, now hanging in a private setting far removed from the Champs-Élysées. At 53, Armstrong raises a bottle with a yellow label to his lips, the visual metaphor as blunt as it is deliberate.

That colour (once the pinnacle of his sporting achievement) is still part of his identity. For all the attempts to scrub his name from the sport's greatest race, Armstrong wore the maillot jaune for an astonishing 83 days across seven Tours. Officially, those victories no longer exist. Unofficially, the world hasn’t forgotten.

The commercial has ignited fresh debate. Is it defiance? A reclaiming of legacy? Or simply a man unapologetically living with his past? Armstrong has never shied away from controversy, and this latest move will do little to silence the ongoing conversation about his place in cycling history.

He remains the most polarising figure the sport has ever known, a cancer survivor turned champion, turned symbol of deception. Few people have a rise and fall quite so severe, and in 2012, the United States Anti-Doping Agency laid bare the extent of the doping programme surrounding Armstrong and the US Postal Service team, calling it “the most sophisticated, professionalised and successful doping programme that sport has ever seen.” The fallout was seismic, as sponsors vanished, his titles were vacated, and his once-glowing reputation was left in ruins.

And yet, Armstrong has never disappeared completely. He continues to podcast during the Tour, comment on races, and now, feature in commercials that toe the line between nostalgia and provocation.

This ad is not just about non-alcoholic beer, it’s about ownership. The jerseys may have been taken from the official records, but they still hang in Armstrong’s home. For many fans, that raises uncomfortable questions. Can history be rewritten? Or does the image of Armstrong in yellow remain burned into the collective memory of an entire generation?

The advert doesn’t answer those questions. It doesn’t try to. It simply shows a man who, despite everything, still sees something in that colour. As the sport continues to evolve, clean up its image, and make peace with its past, Armstrong’s legacy remains an open wound, or a badge of survival, depending on who you ask.

You can watch the video below. What do you think? Is this reclamation or revisionism? Either way, Lance Armstrong continues to be part of the conversation.