The United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) portrayed Armstrong as the ringleader of what it called "the most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program that sport has ever seen."

The first break in the case came in 2005 when SCA Promotions, a Dallas-based insurer, balked at paying a US$5 million bonus to Armstrong for winning his sixth consecutive Tour de France.

SCA president Bob Hamman had read L.A. Confidentiel, a book by cycling journalists Pierre Ballester and David Walsh, which detailed circumstantial evidence of massive doping by Armstrong and members of his U.S.

The effort convened a grand jury to investigate doping charges, including taking statements under oath from Armstrong's former team members and other associates.

[2] As part of his campaign to clear his name from allegations of doping, Armstrong hired a Washington lobbying firm in 2010 to raise concerns about Novitzky, according to a story in The Wall Street Journal.

[6] In June 2012, USADA accused Armstrong of doping and drug trafficking, based on blood samples from 2009 and 2010, and testimonies from witnesses including former teammates.

[17] Four days after Sparks' decision, on August 24, 2012, the USADA announced that if Armstrong did not act fast, he would be stripped of his seven Tour de France victories — along with other honors from 1999 to 2011 — and banned from cycling for life.

"[19] Under the World Anti-Doping Code, by failing to contest such serious charges of doping offenses, Armstrong was automatically banned from all sports whose federations follow the Code—effectively ending his competitive career.

Under Armstrong's plan, the UCI would have contended that while USADA's findings were unsound, its arbitration process was so tilted against a suspected doper that an appeal would not be worth the effort.

According to O'Connell and Albergotti, USADA arbitrations operate under rules of "basic common sense", which would have made it appear obvious to "any person with half a brain" that Armstrong had doped.

However, in the wake of a particularly acrimonious battle with Tyler Hamilton in 2005, USADA had amended its bylaws so it could publicly speak about the details of its cases in order to correct the record.

Armstrong, USADA said, could not be allowed to benefit from the statute when he lied under oath in both the SCA case and the French investigation, intimidated witnesses and submitted affidavits that he knew were false.

Statements were also taken from former teammates, including George Hincapie,[29] Levi Leipheimer,[30] and Michael Barry,[31] all of whom confessed to doping during their careers as well as witnessing Armstrong using performance-enhancing drugs.

Before its release, Armstrong's legal representative, Tim Herman, described the USADA reasoned decision as "a one-sided hatchet job—a taxpayer-funded tabloid piece rehashing old, disproved, unreliable allegations based largely on axe-grinders, serial perjurers, coerced testimony, sweetheart deals and threat-induced stories".

[33] UCI president Pat McQuaid remarked that he was "sickened" by the USADA report, particularly how the US Postal team officials coerced one of Armstrong's teammates, David Zabriskie, into taking EPO.

The president of WADA, John Fahey, stated that he believed Armstrong's decision not to contest the USADA's claims pursuant to its process indicated there was "substance to those charges".

Robert Boland, professor of sports management at New York University, believed that Armstrong's marketing potential was still strong after the USADA's decision, stating his "story has not been diminished.

[44] Other sponsors who cut ties with Armstrong were Trek Bicycle Corporation, Giro, FRS Healthy Performance, Honey Stinger and 24 Hour Fitness.

[2] On January 4, 2013, The New York Times reported that Armstrong had told associates and anti-doping officials that he was considering publicly admitting having used banned performance-enhancing drugs and blood transfusions during his cycling career.

[55] In a televised interview with Oprah Winfrey on January 13, 2013 (broadcast later in two parts), Armstrong finally confessed to using performance-enhancing drugs throughout much of his career, including all seven Tour wins.

[56] During the interview, he stated that his "mythic, perfect story" was "one big lie", and attributed his denials to being "a guy who expected to get whatever he wanted, and to control every outcome.

Macur wrote that Armstrong decided to admit his doping because he knew he would be questioned under oath about it in the False Claims Act suit filed by Landis.

"[1] In 2016, in a speech to University of Colorado, Boulder professor Roger A. Pielke Jr.'s Introduction to Sports Governance class, Armstrong confessed he began doping in "late spring of 1995".