British journalist David Walsh says The Sunday Times wants money back after being sued by Lance Armstrong

IT MAY have taken him 13 years, but today British journalist and author David Walsh got the confession he thought would never come.

IT MAY have taken him 13 years, but today British sports journalist and author David Walsh got the confession he thought would never come.

Disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong's interview with Oprah may have been televised in Britain at 2am but Walsh, 57, didn't miss a word.

The chief sports writer for Britain's The Sunday Times has relentlessly pursued Armstrong over his use of banned substances since the American cyclist won his first Tour de France and at that time, and for the next decade, was a lone voice in that claim against the man who was a cycling god to most.

Armstrong sued The Sunday Times and in 2006 the newspaper settled the case for more than $500,000 after spending more than $1 million in legal fees.

They quite rightly now want the money back - with interest.

"Do I feel vindicated? I will be honest and say no," Walsh said.

"Vindication comes when you are challenged by many people and you need other people to say you were right, and I hope this doesn't sound arrogant, but I never needed other people to say I was right.

"I'm glad it came out but I never needed that to know that Lance Armstrong was involved in doping in '99 on his first Tour and every time subsequently since that time."

Walsh said vindication should go to those "honest people", the witnesses, he spoke to in his years of investigation into Armstrong, who were vilified for telling the truth.

After the seven-time Tour de France winner was stripped of all his cycling titles going back to 1998 after the US Anti-Doping agency USADA released a detailed report into the widespread use of the drugs by Armstrong and some of his teammates.

His highly anticipated interview saw the admissions the cycling world wanted but Walsh believes it didn't go far enough.

"It was good to hear it finally from his mouth and he certainly used the word arrogant about himself and I think that's fair," Walsh said.

Lance Armstrong admissions

"He wasn't quite prepared to go into the detail he is going to have to go into soon, so I was slightly disappointed.

"From where Oprah Winfrey was coming from I think she did a good job. Understandably, she didn't know the follow up questions."

Walsh said Armstrong manipulated people and strove to drive detractors into the ground and probably hoped he (Walsh) lost his job after the lawsuit.

Walsh said thankfully The Sunday Times stood by him and his years of investigations and he hoped Armstrong's camp would now pay back the money.

The newspaper said in a formal statement: "We watched Lance Armstrong's interview with interest and noted his numerous admissions regarding taking performance-enhancing drugs. The Sunday Times believes that our case for recovering the one million pounds-plus he obtained from us by fraud is now even stronger. We will be pursuing that case vigorously."