'Jerk' & 'arrogant prick': Lance Armstrong

"One big lie" was how Armstrong described his career.

The disgraced cycling legend's fierce defence of his record finally collapsed Thursday as he admitted that his seven Tour de France titles were fueled by an array of drugs.

"I made my decisions. They're my mistake," Armstrong told US talk show host Oprah Winfrey, in his first interview since he was stripped of his record yellow jersey haul and banned from sport for life.

"And I'm sitting here today to acknowledge that and to say I'm sorry for that," Armstrong admitted.

"Certainly, I'm a flawed character," said Armstrong, who was once revered as a cancer survivor who beat the odds to succeed on cycling's greatest stage, then used his fame to help others fighting the disease.

"It's just this mythic, perfect story," he said. "And it wasn't true."

Winfrey's much-anticipated interview opened with a rapid-fire series of "yes" or "no" questions that saw Armstrong admit to using the blood-booster EPO, blood-doping transfusions, testosterone and human growth hormone.

In those years he won the tour from 1999 to 2005, Armstrong said, he didn't even think of himself as cheating. He didn't feel he was doing something wrong.

"Scary," Armstrong said.

He admitted he bullied people who didn't go along with the "narrative" he constructed, but categorically denied forcing team-mates to dope.

What else did Armstrong deny? Full story here.

(Above) A man watching a TV showing disgraced cycling star Lance Armstrong being interviewed by Oprah Winfrey on January 17, 2013 in Kensington, Maryland.