Cycling: 'Drugs caused my cancer' - Lance Armstrong admission in latest documentary

Lance Armstrong...confession time again. Photo/Photosport

Lance Armstrong coming clean? It's a bit late for that.

And it still doesn't sound like one of his strong suits.

But sport's most infamous drug cheat is admitting his testicular cancer may have been caused by doping.

And the Tour de France icon has told an ESPN documentary that he was taking performance enhancing drugs from the age of 21.

The first part of 'Lance' will screen next week and in it, Armstrong is asked if he believes the doping led to the cancer.

In a manner that will not surprise Armstrong watchers, he eventually gets to an answer.

"You know, I don't know the answer to that," he said.

"I don't want to say no, because I don't think that's right either.

"I don't know if it's yes or no, but I certainly wouldn't say no.

"The only thing I will tell you is, the only time in my life that I ever did growth hormone was the 1996 season.

"And so just in my head, I'm like growth…growing hormones and cells, like…if anything good needs to be grown, it does. But wouldn't it also make sense that if anything bad is there, that it too would grow?"

His fall from grace includes being stripped of his seven Tour de France titles for cheating.

Armstrong won the world road race crown on the eve of his 22nd birthday, leading to the conclusion he was already doping then.

In a clip released by ESPN, there is a long pause before he tells filmmaker Marina Zenovich that he was "probably 21" when he began to dope.

"So were we getting injections of vitamins and other things like that at an earlier age. Yes. But they weren't illegal," he says.

But Armstrong says he always knew what was going into his body, an admittance he could not hide behind a claim of ignorance.

"I educated myself on what was being given and I chose to do it," the 48-year-old says.

When asked if the growth hormone EPO could have done damage after his cancer remission, Armstrong says: "This is not going to be a popular answer – EPO is a safe drug.

"Assuming (it is) taken under the guidance of a medical professional, there are far worse things you can put in your body."

Armstrong has always come across as highly manipulative and not willing to confess the extent of his actions, despite his confession to television mogul Oprah Winfrey in 2013.

A number of the people whose lives and careers he harmed are still unhappy with his behaviour and say his apologies are not sincere.

The Daily Mail reported that Armstrong "still denies accusations that he pressured teammates into doping, bribed cycling officials, or took performance enhancing drugs during his comeback in 2009 and 2010."