Tyler Hamilton says Lance Armstrong needs to come all the way clean after admitting to doping during an interview with Oprah Winfrey.
A former teammate on the U.S. Postal Service team, Tyler Hamilton had previously outed Lance Armstrong and the team’s doping program during a 60 Minutes appearance in 2011.
Hamilton said he was glad to see that Armstrong came clean, but said that confession is only the start of what he must to do make amends.
“It’s what he does moving forward,” Hamilton said in a phone interview with The Associated Press . “He’s saying some of the right things now but the proof is in the pudding. If he just goes and hides away, people are not going to be happy. But if he does the right thing, speaks to Travis Tygart and WADA and tells everything he knows, that’s going to make a big difference.”
Tyler Hamilton’s outreach to Lance Armstrong could help the former seven-time Tour de France winner keep some of his dignity — and preserve some of his accomplishments. Both Tygart, head of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, and World Anti-Doping Agency director general David Howman said if Armstrong wants his ban reduced it will take more than his televised confession.
Tyler Hamilton and Lance Armstrong have somewhat of an unpleasant history. After Hamilton’s 60 Minutes appearance, he wrote a tell-all book detailing evidence for Armstrong’s doping. Armstrong has also been accused of trying to destroy Hamilton and others who spoke out against the team’s doping or named Armstrong personally in allegations, Yahoo! Sports writer Dan Wetzel points out.
