confessions

Lance Armstrong Will Confess Doping to Oprah

TENERIFE, SPAIN - DECEMBER 05: Lance Armstrong of the USA stops during a training ride at a Team Astana Training Camp at the Hotel Las Madrigueras on December 5, 2008 in Playa de las Americas, Tenerife. (Photo by Bryn Lennon/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Lance Armstrong
Lance Armstrong, before the fall. Photo: Bryn Lennon/2008 Getty Images

As has been rumored, the former seven-time Tour de France winner will sit down with Oprah Winfrey at his Austin home this Monday to admit to years of performance-enhancing drug use. Armstrong, who has vehemently denied the charges for years, is believed to be trading a confession for a lift on the lifetime cycling ban placed on him by the World Anti-Doping Agency. However, it will likely be a “limited confession”; that means no juicy details like how often he used drugs or how he took them — or even which ones they were. This is probably intended to offer some protection from the number of legal challenges Armstrong may face from coming clean. He is already named in several lawsuits, and is apparently worried that the U.S. Attorney’s office in LA could reopen a criminal investigation. The full interview won’t actually air on the Oprah Winfrey Network until Thursday, but we’re sure we’ll get some hints as to whether she decides to give him the James Frey treatment beforehand.