Lance Armstrong & Oprah Winfrey: cyclist questions punishment

Lance Armstrong has questioned whether he deserves his "death penalty" punishment which means he is banned from all sports because of his use of performance-enhancing drugs.

The cyclist compared his lifelong ban to six-month penalties given to others.

In the second part of his interview with Oprah Winfrey, the 41-year-old said: "I deserve to be punished. I'm not sure I deserve a death penalty.

Armstrong described the period in which his sponsors dropped him as a" $75m dollar day". "All gone. Probably never coming back," he said. "I've lost all future income."

Outlining the build-up to Livestrong's decision, he added: "The story was getting out of control which was my worst nightmare. I had this place in my mind they would all leave. The one I didn't think would leave was the foundation.

In the first part of the interview Armstrong told the chat show host he was sorry for his "big lie". He admitted that at the time he viewed his actions as levelling the playing field rather than cheating.

He said he would now co-operate with official inquiries into doping.

In the aftermath of the Usada report the Texan opted not to contest the allegations. He had always strongly denied doping, but that all changed within seconds of his first appearance on Winfrey's show.