SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) -- After years of fiercely denying the allegations against him, former cyclist Lance Armstrong has, for the first time, publicly admitted to doping.
Armstrong ended a decade of speculation by admitting he used performance enhancing drugs to win every single one of his seven Tour de France titles.
The former cyclist, who was stripped of his titles late last year, made the confession in an interview with US television host Oprah Winfrey.
Armstrong admitted covering up his use of drugs but says there was a culture of doping among cyclists.
His career has gone through extraordinary highs and lows. His professional career started with limited success in the early 1990s. Then in 1996, at the age of 25, Armstrong was diagnosed with testicular cancer.
But he overcame the illness in a spectacular fashion, winning the 1999 Tour de France.
But it was just the beginning. Armstrong went on to win every year, from 1999 to 2005; a seven year winning streak that set a new Tour de France record.
In 2005, just weeks after he announced he would retire, a French newspaper said it had evidence Armstrong was guilty of doping.
The allegations subsided after he retired.
But when he announced his intention to return in 2009, those allegations came back with force.
In October 2012 the US anti-doping agency said it had "overwhelming" evidence against Armstrong. He was stripped of all his Tour de France titles.
So, how much damage has been done to the world of cycling? And what's next for Lance Armstrong and the sport?
To discuss this, Inside Story with presenter Ghida Fakhry is joined by guests: Michele Verroken, the director of Sporting Integrity Limited, a consultancy on integrity matters including doping in sports; Marty MacDonald, a former cycling team owner and manager, who has managed Tour de France level athletes; and Fred Dryer, a freelance journalist and former editor at Velonews Cycle Magazine.
