Winfrey will let viewers judge Armstrong

Oprah Winfrey believes Lance Armstrong was “ready” to come clean over his sordid past, but his admission did not happen in the way she had expected.

Armstrong and Winfrey met in the disgraced cyclist’s home city of Austin, Texas, to record the interview yesterday, with millions set to watch tomorrow and Friday this week.

The 41-year-old was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles by the International Cycling Union last year and banned for life after the United States Anti-Doping Agency found he had been at the heart of “the most sophisticated, professionalised and successful doping programme that sport has ever seen”.

On the day it was revealed the interview between the pair will be broadcast over two nights – leading to suggestions of profiteering – Winfrey commented on her experience interviewing the man labelled the single biggest cheat in sporting history.

“I feel that [Lance Armstrong] answered the questions in a way that [suggested] he was ready,” talk show host Winfrey told the CBS This Morning programme.

“I would say he did not come clean in the manner that I had expected. It was surprising to me.”

The first part of the interview will be shown on the Oprah show at 9pm local time on Thursday (2am GMT on Friday), with the next episode to follow 24 hours later.

' Satisfied'

Winfrey said she was “satisfied” with Armstrong’s answers during her interview; indeed, she was “mesmerised and riveted” by some.

She described Armstrong as “emotional” during the interview, but added that he “certainly had prepared himself”.

As had she. “I had prepared like it was a college exam and walked into the room with 112 questions,” she said. “In a two-and-a-half-hour interview, I asked most of those questions, or at least as many as I could.”

Winfrey revealed no lawyers had been allowed at the interview at her request, although Armstrong did have a team of people in the room.

She added that at one point Armstrong asked her: “Will there be a point where you lighten up?”

Asked if Armstrong was contrite during the interview, Winfrey said: “I choose not to characterise.

“I would rather people make their own decisions about whether he was contrite or not. I felt that he was thoughtful, I thought that he was serious, I thought that he certainly had prepared himself for this moment. I would say that he met the moment.”