Austin, Texas – Fallen US cycling icon Lance Armstrong told bikers Sunday morning in a charity event for the foundation he created that “I've been better but I've also been worse.”
Armstrong, stripped of seven Tour de France titles and given a life ban by the US Anti-Doping Agency (Usada), spoke before the start of the Livestrong Challenge in his hometown of Austin, Texas.
While he made comments at a private 15th anniversary gala for the foundation on Friday, his 90 seconds on stage before a record 4 300 riders were his first in public since Usada's 1,000-page evidence report was unveiled earlier this month.
“Obviously it has been an interesting past couple of weeks,” Armstrong said.
Armstrong said it was an honor to speak to the riders, many of them cancer survivors just like Armstrong, who overcame testicular cancer that had spread to his brain and lungs to win the Tour de France from 1999 through 2005.
Armstrong kept the focus on Livestrong's anti-cancer work, which began when he formed the foundation in 1997.
“If you had told me 15 years later we would raise half a billion dollars and help two and a half billion people, I would have told you you were crazy, but that's what we've done,” Armstrong said. – Sapa-AFP