text: Last Updated, Wednesday, 11:07 a.m. The year before his seventh and final Tour de France victory, Lance Armstrong offered to donate “in excess of $150,000″ to the antidoping agency in charge of keeping American athletes from using performance-enhancing drugs, according to the organization’s chief executive. 
   
   The latest accusation against Armstrong, the disgraced former cyclist, was made by the current head of the United States Anti-Doping Agency, Travis Tygart, in an interview with CBS News posted online on Tuesday. In October, Usada stripped Armstrong of all of his titles and barred him from competition for life following the release of a 202-page report into what the agency called “the most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program that sport has ever seen.” 
   
   As my colleague Juliet Macur reported, Armstrong, who has so far denied all allegations of cheating, “has told associates and antidoping officials that he is considering publicly admitting that he used banned performance-enhancing drugs and blood transfusions during his cycling career.” Late Tuesday, Oprah Winfrey announced that she “will speak exclusively with Lance Armstrong in his first no-holds-barred interview,” to be broadcast next week on her network. 
   
   BREAKING NEWS: Looking forward to this conversation with @lancearmstrong: http://t.co/GwSmBhdW #NextChapter — Oprah Winfrey (@Oprah) 9 Jan 13 
   
   As the cycling journalist Lionel Birnie notes, the Oprah Winfrey Network is a joint venture with Discovery Communications, the broadcaster that sponsored Armstrong’s team in 2005. 
   
   Lance is going on Oprah, partly-produced by Discovery Channel, sponsors of Lance’s 7th and final fraudulent Tour win. Somehow fitting. — Lionel Birnie (@lioneljbirnie) 9 Jan 13 
   
   Samantha Lane, a reporter for The Age in Australia, pointed out on Twitter that Winfrey and Armstrong looked comfortable together in a photograph published in the May 2004 issue of O, The Oprah Magazine with an interview of the cyclist before that year’s Tour de France. 
   
   Oprah & Lance, in happier times (pic from her website). http://t.co/TMpMfYfk — Sam Lane (@SamJaneLane) 9 Jan 13 
   
   The photograph showed Armstrong in his Discovery Channel uniform and Winfrey, leaning on his shoulder, wearing a yellow, Livestrong bracelet. 
   
   The network’s logo was emblazoned across the victor’s yellow jersey Armstrong wore on the top step of the podium in Paris that year, as he lectured “the people that don’t believe in cycling, the cynics and the skeptics.” 
   
   Directly addressing those who accused him of doping that day, Armstrong said, “I’m sorry for you, I’m sorry you can’t dream big and I’m sorry you don’t believe in miracles, but this is one hell of a race, this is a great sporting event and you should stand around and believe. You should believe in these athletes and you should believe in these people. I’m a fan of the Tour de France for as long as I live and there’s no secrets — this is a hard sporting event and hard work wins it.” 
   
   The notion of Armstrong confessing on Oprah was pre-mocked nearly two years ago by the bike racers and cartoonists Andy Shen and Dan Schmalz in their cult comic strip about the soap-operatic world of professional cycling, “As the Toto Turns,” for nyvelocity.com. 
   
   Andy Shen and Dan Schmalz, nyvelocity.com 
   
   Another journalist who writes about cycling, Shane Stokes, suggested that Armstrong might expect Winfrey to go easy on him, since she let another disgraced athlete, Marion Jones, claim during a 2008 interview that she had used performance-enhancing drugs unintentionally. 
   
   Just after news of the interview broke, Kathy LeMond, whose husband, Greg, is now the only American to win the Tour de France, offered to put Winfrey in touch with people who could give her a crash course on the culture of professional cycling. 
   
   .@Oprah I hope you get educated before the interview. I know people that can help you. — Kathy LeMond (@KathyLeMond) 9 Jan 13 
   
   Joe Lindsey of Bicycling Magazine asked his Twitter followers to help Winfrey by suggesting some tough questions. 
   
   I am trying to anticipate some of “no holds barred” questions in Oprah’s Lance interview. How about some suggestions? #questionsforlance — joelindsey (@joelindsey) 9 Jan 13 
   
   That’s pretty good. RT @BBQ44 what did you tell your kids or will/have you? #questionsforlance — joelindsey (@joelindsey) 9 Jan 13 
   
   The complete CBS interview with the antidoping official is scheduled to be broadcast on Wednesday, during the premier of a new program, “60 Minutes Sports.” In one portion released on Tuesday, Tygart said it was “totally inappropriate” that Armstrong had donated about $100,000 to the International Cycling Union, a regulatory body involved in drug testing, during his career. He then revealed that someone representing Armstrong had offered to give the American antidoping agency more than $150,000 at some point in 2004. “It was a clear conflict of interest for Usada,” Tygart said. “We had no hesitation in rejecting that offer.” Pressed further about the amount of the proposed donation, Tygart said that it was about $250,000. 
   
   In another portion of the interview, broadcast on the CBS Evening News on Tuesday, Tygart said that Armstrong had tried to intimidate former teammates who had testified to a federal grand jury about his doping. The official also revealed that he personally had received death threats as a result of his investigation into the cancer survivor who was once a hero to millions. ||||| Story highlights Lance Armstrong has agreed to 90-minute interview, Oprah Winfrey's network announces 
   
   Release says Armstrong is expected to talk about doping allegations 
   
   Armstrong has been working out in Hawaii, doing triathlon training 
   
   Lance Armstrong will give his first television interview since being stripped of his Tour de France titles to Oprah Winfrey, her network announced Tuesday. 
   
   A news release from the Oprah Winfrey Network said the 90-minute "no-holds-barred" interview will air at 9 p.m. ET January 17 and will be simulcast on Oprah.com. 
   
   Winfrey will ask the disgraced cycling star to address the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency's report, which said there was overwhelming evidence he was directly involved in a sophisticated doping program, the statement said. 
   
   The International Cycling Union, which choose not to appeal the USADA's lifetime ban, stripped Armstrong of his record seven Tour victories in October. 
   
   The World Anti-Doping Agency also agreed with the sanctions, which means Armstrong may not compete in sports governed by WADA code. 
   
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   Before the ban, he was competing in Ironman triathlons and had won two of the five events he had entered. Since the ban he has entered two non-sanctioned events. 
   
   According to his Twitter feed, Armstrong has been biking, running and swimming in Hawaii. The Winfrey interview will take place at Armstrong's home in Austin, Texas. 
   
   The New York Times reported last week that Armstrong, 41, was contemplating publicly admitting he used illegal performance-enhancing drugs. Such an admission might lead toward Armstrong regaining his eligibility. 
   
   Attorney Tim Herman, in a recent e-mail to CNN Sports, did not address whether Armstrong told associates -- as reported by the newspaper -- that he was considering an admission. 
   
   Armstrong has repeatedly and vehemently denied that he used banned performance-enhancing drugs as well as illegal blood transfusions during his cycling career. 
   
   In the past, Armstrong has argued that he took more than 500 drug tests and never failed. In its 202-page report that detailed Armstrong's alleged use of performance-enhancing drugs and blood transfusions, the USADA said it had tested Armstrong less than 60 times and the International Cycling Union conducted about 215 tests. 
   
   The agency did not say that Armstrong ever failed a test, but his former teammates testified as to how they beat tests or avoided the tests altogether. 
   
   The New York Times, citing unnamed associates and anti-doping officials, said Armstrong has been in discussions with USADA officials and hopes to meet with David Howman, chief of the World Anti-Doping Agency. The newspaper said none of the people with knowledge of Armstrong's situation wanted to be identified because it would jeopardize their access to information on the matter. 
   
   Under World Anti-Doping Agency rules, an athlete who confesses to using performance-enhancing drugs may be eligible for a reinstatement. 
   
   Armstrong has been an icon for his cycling feats and celebrity, bringing more status to a sport wildly popular in some nations but lacking big-name recognition, big money and mass appeal in the United States. 
   
   He fought back from testicular cancer to win the Tour from 1999 to 2005. He raised millions via his Lance Armstrong Foundation to help cancer victims and survivors, an effort illustrated by trendy yellow "LiveSTRONG" wristbands that helped bring in the money. 
   
   But Armstrong has long been dogged by doping allegations, with compatriot Floyd Landis -- who was stripped of his 2006 Tour de France title after failing a drug test -- making a series of claims in 2011. 
   
   Armstrong sued the USADA last year to stop its investigation of him, arguing it did not have the right to prosecute him. But after a federal judge dismissed the case, Armstrong said he would no longer participate in the investigation. 
   
   In October 2012, Armstrong was stripped of his titles and banned from cycling. Weeks later, he stepped down from the board of his foundation, Livestrong. 
   
   It is unclear whether Armstrong would face criminal prosecution for perjury should he confess. Armstrong was involved in several cases where he gave sworn testimony that he never used banned drugs.
target: – Lance Armstrong is rumored to be ready to confess to drug use—and it could happen on Oprah's show. The disgraced cyclist will give a "no-holds-barred" interview to Oprah Winfrey that will air on her network next week, CNN reports. In his first formal interview since he was banned from the sport and stripped of his titles for doping, Armstrong will "address the alleged doping scandal, years of accusations of cheating, and charges of lying about the use of performance-enhancing drugs throughout his storied cycling career," the network says in a statement. In a 60 Minutes Sports interview to be aired tonight, the chief of the US Anti-Doping Agency says an Armstrong representative offered to donate around $250,000 to the agency, reports the New York Times. Travis Tygart, who accuses Armstrong of trying to intimidate former teammates, says the 2004 offer represented a clear conflict of interest. "We had no hesitation in rejecting that offer," he says. Tygart says he received death threats during his organization's investigation of Armstrong.