Lance Armstrong continued his interview with Oprah Winfrey, with the second phase of the face-to-face talk producing a little more emotion from the first part, which had been criticized in many quarters for being too robotic and lacking in any real sentiment.
Armstrong broke down in part two of the interview on the Oprah Winfrey Network, while talking about his family and what they had to go through when he confessed to them about the drugs. He also revealed his disappointment at losing all the sponsorships, including lucrative ones with Nike, and having to step down from the Livestrong board.
The disgraced cyclist said his low point came when his 13-year-old son Luke started defending him from others who accused his father of cheating, saying his dad had not taken any drugs during his seven year reign at the Tour de France.
"I saw my son defending me and saying, 'That's not true. What you're saying about my dad is not true,'" Armstrong, looking to fight his emotions, told Oprah.
"That's when I knew I had to tell him.
"I said, 'Listen, there's been a lot of questions about your dad. My career. Whether I doped or did not dope.
"I've always denied that and I've always been ruthless and defiant about that. You guys have seen that. That's probably why you trusted me on it.' Which makes it even sicker.
"And, uh, I told Luke (his 13-year-old son), I said, (with a long pause) I said, 'Don't defend me anymore. Don't.'"
"He said OK. He just said, 'Look, I love you. You're my dad. This won't change that.'"
Armstrong also expressed his unhappiness at having to leave Livestrong, the cancer foundation he founded after winning the fight against the disease in the 1990s, when he was diagnosed with testicular cancer.
The 41-year-old, who admitted his ex-wife Kristin knew just enough about his doping to ensure he did not use drugs on his comeback in 2009, first resigned as chairman in October of last year, before leaving the board of directors as well the next month.
"The foundation is like my sixth child," Armstrong added. "To make that decision to step aside, that was big.
"I was aware of the pressure to leave. It was the best thing for the organization, but it hurt like hell. That was the lowest (point)," he added while saying he was hopeful the foundation would survive without him.
