Lance Armstrong's mea culpa interview insincere and self-serving, writes Leo Schlink

ANALYSIS: LANCE Armstrong's attempt at redemption through an Oprah interview was insincere, evasive and self-serving.

INSINCERE, evasive and self-serving.

Lance Armstrong's gamble to take the road to redemption via an Oprah Winfrey interview rather than through a recognised anti-doping authority was always fraught with danger.

While admitting - without requisite detail - to using performance-enhancing drugs, chronic lying and bullying, Armstrong was frugal with crucial information.

Bizarrely passing himself off as anything but the ringleader of an operation condemned as the most sophisticated in the history of sports, Armstrong attempted the soft sell.

It was laughable. And pathetic.

Armstrong's ploy of confessing to being a long-term fraud - an indisputable status based on US Anti-Doping Agency testimony - but avoiding nastier personal allegations was signature behaviour.

When in doubt, attack. Take the high moral ground, where there is none.

A massive online commentariat monitoring Winfrey's so-so inquistion exploded with rage over the holes Armstrong was allowed to amble through.

It was classic Armstrong manipulation.

He contrived a victim mentality to Winfrey's questioning, attributing his own viciousness to an impoverished childhood.

He shaped to justify drug use - testosterone in particular - as a salve to his ordeal with testicular cancer.

He challenged irony by describing himself as lacking credibility, admitting to constantly lying - yet wanting to be the "first man in the door" at a truth and reconciliation meeting.

Please.

And he poured chilling light on his shockingly insensitive dealings with Betsy Andreu and Emma O'Reilly, apparently aloof to their scarring from his vilification.

When Armstrong apologised for the damage he has caused to cycling, aspiring Olympians everywhere would have recoiled in horror.

There was a single, and constant, refrain in everything Armstrong uttered to Winfrey.

He is sorry only because he got caught.

He is not sorry about deep-seated damage he has wreaked.

Armstrong's enemies aren't in the least bit surprised by his latest performance.

He has always been a control freak and, by throwing himself on Winfrey's bountiful mercies, he was subjecting himself to nothing more testing than the equivalent of a cold shower.

After decades of lying and cheating to becoming the world's most famous athlete, Armstrong has not yet mastered two things.

He still is not comfortable with the truth, if ever knew what that is. And he remains a moral invertebrate, incapable of deciphering right from wrong.

If nothing else, the Winfrey interview showed that Armstrong is an unreconstructed thug.

He had the chance to do the just thing by co-operating with USADA last year.

But, as with virtually everything in his flawed existence, Armstrong opted to gamble.

He has lost badly - and, judging by the landslide weight of opinion against him in the Twitterverse - few people are crying over his demise.

Mea culpa: Armstrong admits doping to Oprah

SEE HOW LANCE'S FALL FROM GRACE UNFOLDED BELOW

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LANCE v OPRAH - TOMORROW

Join us for complete coverage of the second part of the Lance Armstrong interview from 1pm tomorrow (AEDT).

Armstrong will field questions about his charity Livestrong, the much-maligned photo he posted on Twitter with his Tour jerseys, how his family coped with his disgrace, the message he has for his fans and what's next for him.

Live chat - Analysis from Leo Schlink - Video highlights

Oprah's interview with Armstrong will be shown live in Australia on the Discovery Channel on Foxtel tomorrow at 1PM AEDT. 

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Social media: Armstrong mocked on #Doprah

The Punch - It wasn't about the bike

Lance decides to try remorse

The road to disgrace in pictures