Lance Armstrong says he would dope again if given the choice

Disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong has said he would take performance enhancing drugs all over again, blaming the "pervasive" doping culture in cycling for his original decision.

Armstrong said he thought he should be forgiven for his lapses, in a new interview with the BBC.

It was his first interview since he sensationally confessed to repeated doping to US TV host Oprah Winfrey in January 2013.

"If I was racing in 2015, no, I wouldn't do it again because I don't think you have to," he said.

"If you take me back to 1995, when doping was completely pervasive, I would probably do it again."

Armstrong was stripped of his seven Tour De France titles by the US Anti-Doping Agency in 2012 after he was found to have made repeated use of performance enhancing drugs.

He sensationally confessed on air to US TV host Oprah Winfrey in January 2013, but has maintained doping was widespread in competitive cycling at the time.

Armstrong beat cancer in the 90s before winning seven Tour De France events between 1999 and 2005.

Those titles were later taken from him after the doping revelations.

Armstrong said his greatest regret was not the doping, but how he treated people during his career.

The cyclist responded with legal threats on a number of occasions when accused of doping.

"I would want to change the man that did those things, maybe not the decision, but the way he acted," he said.

"The way he treated people, the way he couldn't stop fighting. It was unacceptable, inexcusable."

He said he was ready to return to public life.

"What matters is what people collectively think, whether that's the cycling community, the cancer community," he said.

He acknowledged the decision to use performance enhancing drugs was a poor one, but maintained his cycling success had led to good results, including huge donations for his cancer support charity Livestrong.

In the wide-ranging interview, he said his seven Tour De France titles should be reallocated.

He pointed out that the only other periods without winners since the tournament began, were in WWI and WWII.