Lance Armstrong faces Oprah Winfrey: as it happened

Armstrong faces questions about cancer charity Says being asked to leave charit was 'lowest point' Lance wants to compete in sports once again Star confesses to doping during all seven Tour wins Disgraced former cyclist admits he was 'a bully' to team-mates

Latest

02.59 How did it come to this?

I had it and then things got too big. Things got too crazy...For me it was just about the ride and losing myself.

02.58 We're into the final segment. Did this help you become a better human being? "Without a doubt," Armstrong says. Both cancer and disgrace improved him "but I can't lose my way again".

02.52 Lance puts his current difficulties into context, comparing it to the dark days of his battle with cancer.

This is not a good time but it's not the worst part of my life. You can't compare this to an advanced diagnosis.

02.50 Follow the money. He's now back to strenuously denying that he ever tried to bribe with USADA with a $150,000 donation. He says he's lost "all future income". He says he may have lost $75 million in the two days that his sponsors walked out on him. "It's gone and probably never coming back."

02.47 The apology may not be enough for his kids. Richard Nixon's children are still defending their disgraced father.

02.45 His son apparently was able to take a philosophical view as his father confessed to him.

He just said I love you, you're my dad, that won't change that...The biggest hope and intention [of doing the interview] was the well-being of my children. The! older kids need to be living without this in their lives.

02.36 Poignant moment as Lance describes watching his 13-year-old defend his reputation. He appears to briefly lose his composure as he describes how: "That's when I knew I had to tell him, and he never asked me, he never asked 'Dad is this true?' He trusted me." He told his children over Christmas that the charges against him were true.

His 11-year-old twin girls didn't say much. "They just accepted it," he says, looking skyward. He told his son: "Don't defend me anymore."

02.30 He's talking about his ex-wife Kristin, who knew about his doping. Did she try to stop him? "She wasn't that curious, perhaps she didn't want to know." She gave him permission for his 2009 comeback but only on the condition that he not dope for those final races. He insists that he would "never have betrayed that".

02.27 What about this picture that he tweeted out under the comment: Back in Austin and just layin' around? The act of defiance outraged his critics and was seen a sign that he regretted nothing. He says thought it was a good idea at the time, as a sign of bravado. He's in therapy and has been throughout his whole life but says that he is someone who needs consistent help.

-

02.25 Armstrong says he wants to keep competing, in anything, even a marathon. "This might not be the most popular answer but I think I deserve it," he says, saying that many other people were let off with lighter sentences for for doing similar things.

02.20 And now the perfectly-formed Oprah question. What do you say to the millions of people who believed in you and found out they had been betrayed.

I understand your anger. Your sense of betrayal. You supported me forever through all of this and you believed and I lied to you and I'm sorry.

02.15 He's being faced with the tape from a 2005 deposition where he ad! amantly i! nsisted that if he were doping he would be undermining the faith of millions of cancer survivors. Which, y'know, he did.

That's a guy who felt he was invincible, was told he was invincible, truly believed he was invincible.

02.10 Can Livestrong live without your story? "I certainly hope so," he says, but looks ragged. I would say this is the most emotional he's looked so far.

02.05 He was at first asked to give up the chairmanship but that didn't satisfy the growing chorus of critics. In a second call, the foundation asked him to sever ties completely. "To make that decision to step aside, that was big," he says.

2.00 So here we go. Oprah asks do you feel disgraced?

I feel humbled, I feel ashamed. This is ugly stuff.

He describes how his sponsors - Nike, Giro and Trek - walked out following the growing allegations against him. But that wasn't the most humbling moment. That came when his foundation, Livestrong, told him he needed to step down.

1.57am So what's left for tonight's hour? Expect Oprah to ask more questions about his family and how they are dealing with fact that he is now (and arguably has been for a while) a public villain. We're also anticipating more questions about his Livestrong charity and whether he has any chance of reclaiming he mantle of a major world-wide humanitarian.

1.55am Last night Lance finally confessed to doping during all seven of his consecutive Tour de France victories admitting that the golden years of his career, and the subsequent cover-up, were all "a big lie". Here are the highlights:

1.50am GMT Hello and welcom! e to our ! second night of live coverage as Lance Armstrong goes round two with Oprah Winfrey, the high priestess who takes the confessions of America's disgraced superstars.