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Armstrong doesn't regret doping: 'We did what we had to do to win'

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Lance Armstrong doesn't regret any of the measures he took to win the Tour de France seven times, including his use of performance-enhancing drugs.

In an interview with NBCSN scheduled to air May 29 following Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final, Armstrong said he "wouldn't change a thing" about the lies he lived and told or the consequences he eventually faced.

"I wouldn't change a thing. I wouldn't change the way I acted," he told Mike Tirico, via Neal Rogers of CyclingTips. "I mean I would, but this is a longer answer. Primarily, I wouldn't change the lessons that I've learned. I don't learn all the lessons if I don't act that way. I don't get investigated and sanctioned if I don't act the way I acted. If I just doped and didn't say a thing, none of that would have happened. None of it. I was begging for, I was asking for them to come after me. It was an easy target."

Armstrong won the most prestigious race in cycling for seven consecutive years from 1999-2005, becoming a worldwide megastar along the way. He vehemently denied cheating for years, but he finally admitted his past was littered with doping in 2013.

Armstrong was stripped of all seven of his Tour de France championships, lost millions of dollars from sponsors, and was forced out of his own Livestrong Foundation during the scandal. He became one of the most disgraced athletes in United States history.

"We did what we had to do to win," he said. "It wasn't legal, but I wouldn't change a thing - whether it's losing a bunch of money, going from hero to zero."

The interview will air in a 30-minute special titled "Lance Armstrong: Next Stage."

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