Sampling of Lance Armstrong's doping denials

Before his abrupt U-turn in an interview this week with Oprah Winfrey, Lance Armstrong had, many times and in many forums, consistently denied that he used performance-enhancing drugs. Here is a sample of some of the cyclist's choicest comments on the subject before he finally admitted to doping:

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"Luke's name is Armstrong and people know that name, and when he goes to school I don't want them to say, `Oh yeah, your dad's the big fake, the doper.' That would just kill me,'' - in his second autobiography, "Every Second Counts,'' in 2003.

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"I came out of a life-threatening disease. I was on my death bed. You think I'm going to come back into a sport and say, `OK, OK doctor, give me everything you've got, I just want to go fast?' No way! I would never do that,'' - public forum, Aspen, Colo., 2007.

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"How many times do I have to say it? ... Well, if it can't be any clearer than `I've never taken drugs,''' - videotaped testimony in lawsuit, 2005.

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"I'm sorry you don't believe in miracles,'' - 2005 Tour de France victory speech, taking aim at "the cynics and the skeptics.''

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"There are no secrets. This is a hard sporting event and hard work wins it,'' - same speech.

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"Everybody wants to know: what am I on. What am I on? I'm on my bike, busting my ass six hours a day,'' - commercial for Nike in 2001.

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"We're sick and tired of these allegations and we're going to do everything we can to fight them. They're absolutely untrue'' - news conference, 2004.

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"They say, `This is a new guy in the Tour. It can't be. He must be doped.' It's unfortunate,'' - TV interview on the way to winning his first Tour, in 1999.

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"You are not worth the chair that you're sitting on,'' - at journalist and doping critic Paul Kimmage, at 2009 news conference.

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"Do we make mistakes, all of us? Absolutely. As a society, are we supposed to forgive and forget and let people get back to their job? Absolutely,'' - same news conference, arguing that dopers should get a second chance.

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"At the end of the day, I have nothing to hide,'' - Associated Press interview, 2009.

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"I have never doped'' - on `Larry King Live,' 2005.