During your 60 Minutes interview, you basically said that Lance did “what we all did” and that the doping on U.S. Postal started before he got there. You were almost leaving the door open for him to come out.
I wasn’t doing that intentionally. I was trying to make a point, because it’s not about Lance. Lance is just a rider in the peloton. Obviously, he has the biggest name, so he has the big X on his back. I just wanted to make that clear.

You talk about him almost like a brother.
At one point, it was kind of like that. Now it’s not. But that’s OK.

With so much evidence out there, is an admission by him a possibility?
I think he’d feel a lot better. I don’t think there’s ever a point of no return. It’s a difficult spot to be in. But now it’s clear as day. I feel so much better.

Meanwhile, I understand Lance’s denial. Once you start lying, you get kind of comfortable. You start believing it. Especially if you truly believe you didn’t really cheat because you were doing what everybody else was doing. But you don’t want to see the guy miserable for the rest of his life, and I cannot imagine that now is a very fun time for him. Maybe if he just did a general press conference. No details. Said he broke the rules a few times, shed a tear. I’d want to go give him a hug. He’s still Lance the champion.

Do you miss bike racing?
Once in a great while I miss the racing, the feeling of winning. That rush. That adrenaline. The rest of the bullshit—no, I don’t miss it. My nephew told me he wanted to be a pro bike racer a couple of years ago, and I felt sick to my stomach, knowing what I do. I hope this book will be the start of something. There needs to be some serious work done to the UCI. Some fresh faces. New blood.

What did you make of Lance’s statement today? He called you greedy and opportunistic. Then he said this does nothing to right any wrong, but he also didn’t deny anything.
I found that very interesting. When he confronted me in Aspen after my 60 Minutes interview, he didn’t say I was a liar then, either. He was pissed at me. He asked how much 60 Minutes paid me, which obviously was nothing. But he never said you’re a lying son of a bitch. That was pretty interesting.

So he was more pissed at you for breaking the code?
Yeah. I would have been pissed, too, if I were on the other side of the fence. But this is my story; I have the right to tell the truth. I feel like the sport of cycling needs to hear the truth. Nobody has ever told it like this. And it’s ugly.