Lance Armstrong's arrogance

Earlier this year, Lance Armstrong told the BBC he would cheat again if he had the chance.  If he really said those words, and three different newspapers say that he did, he's obviously not sorry."I've admitted to it all, and have suffered enough" he said.

Banned and desperate to get back into the sport any way he can, he plans to ride in fellow cancer survivor and former English soccer star Geoff Thomas' charity bike ride which takes place in part of the Tour de France route, a day before the race begins on July 4. The charity ride aims to raise one million pounds to help find a cure for Leukaemia.

Surrounded with glory

But the UCI President, Brian Cookson, said the idea of Armstrong taking part in the charity ride is hugely disrespectful to the rest of the sport but admits he has no authority to stop him.  "Lance Armstrong can ride his bike around France as often as he likes, it's got nothing to do with me or the UCI" he said.

Kirstin Armstrong

Armstrong's first wife Kristin was a willing participant in her husband's drug taking and helped him cover it up, according to former team mate Jonathan Vaughters.  She used the code word "butter" to describe the synthetic blood-boosting hormone EPO and kept it in the couples' fridge. She also allegedly wrapped tablets of cortisone in aluminium foil and handed them out to riders.

Betty and Frankie Andreau

But not all the rider's wives and girlfriends were prepared to go along with the lie.  In a sworn affidavit, cyclist Frankie Andreau said that in 1996, he and his future wife Betsy visited Armstrong in hospital when he was battling cancer.

During that visit, Armstrong told them he was using EPO, testosterone, growth hormone, cortisone and steroids.

Betsy was furious and went to the media and when Armstrong found out, he started an intimidation campaign against her that lasted for years.

Armstrong sent an email to Betsy's husband.  "Helping to bring me down is not going to help y'alls situation.  There is a direct link to all our success here, may I suggest you remind her of that."

In 2009 Betsy received a voicemail from a friend of Armstrong.

"I hope somebody breaks a baseball bat over your head and I also hope that one day you have adversity in your life and have some type of tragedy that will definitely make an impact on you."

Brian Cookson, President of the Union Cycliste Internationale(UCI)

Armstrong is worried about the $100 million whistle-blower lawsuit instigated by his former US Postal team-mate Floyd Landis because it could wipe him out financially.

And it couldn't happen to a nicer bloke.