Lance Armstrong: 'Impossible' to win Tour de France without doping Lance Armstrong, shown in 2004 at the 91st Tour de France, recently said it's "impossible" to win without doping. Joel Saget / Getty Images By Melissa Rohlin June 28, 2013, 8:47 a.m. Lance Armstrong told French newspaper Le Monde on Friday that he could not have won the Tour de France without doping. The Tour de France? Impossible to win without doping. Because the tour is a test of endurance where oxygen is decisive," Armstrong said to Le Monde, according to an Associated Press translation. Armstrong had all seven of his Tour de France titles stripped from him last year for doping. He reportedly told the French daily that he still considers himself the winner of those races. Armstrong has had a turbulent history with Le Monde. The newspaper in 1999 reported that corticosteroids were found in his urine. Armstrong claimed at the time that that was "vulture journalism, desperate journalism." He went on to win his first Tour de France that year. Armstrong reportedly also told the newspaper that his life was ruined by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency investigation that exposed him as a doper. Five things you might not have known about Sandy Koufax Spain outlasts Italy in penalty kicks to win Confederations Cup