Yesterday Lance Armstrong met former pro Christophe Bassons in Paris to apologize for his role in the harassment that forced the Frenchman to retire at the age of 27. The Frenchman accepted the apology and claimed that others had also contributed to his premature retirement.

Lance Armstrong has had many enemies in the cycling world. One of them is former French rider Christophe Bassons who had a public quarrel with the American during the 1999 Tour de France but yesterday Armstrong sought forgiveness when he met Bassons in Paris to apologize for his past behaviour.

Bassons rode on the Festina team from 1996 to 1998 and was named by many as the only rider who didn't dope. In 1999 he rode the Tour and wrote a column in French newspaper Le Parisien.

He claimed that doping was still rampant in cycling despite the race trying to re-launch itself as a clean event after the Festina scandal. He also claimed that the peloton had been shocked by Armstrong's performances after his return from cancer.

Many riders were angry at Bassons for his statements and Armstrong confronted him during stage 14 to Alpe d'Huez.

“He grabbed me by the shoulder, because he knew that everyone would be watching, and he knew that at that moment, he could show everyone that he was the boss," Bassons told BBC Radio 5 in 2012. He stopped me, and he said what I was saying wasn't true, what I was saying was bad for cycling, that I mustn’t say it, that I had no right to be a professional cyclist, that I should quit cycling, that I should quit the Tour. He finished by saying *** you.”

Bassons left the race and two years later he put an end to his career at just 27 years of age. Having already met former soigneur Emma O'Reilly to apologize for his verbal abuse of her, Armstrong took his chance to speak with Bassons in Paris yesterday.

 “If this is how you've felt at the time, I really apologize,” he said, according to Le Monde. 

“There is no need to apologize,” Bassoons replied. “At least you have told me to the face.”

Bassons insisted that others had also contributed to his retirement.

“When I stopped the bike in 2001, I was a victim of physical harassment,” he said. “I was put in the ditch. Of French riders criticized Lance Armstrong because he doped. But they said nothing publicly against you. They let me go to the front. Better yet, they made me leave.

“Me, now, I'm happy,” he added. “I am father of two children. I have a job I like. I do not regret. I am proud and I have plans.”
 

Armstrong admitted that his life is far more complicated. He is currently involved in a lawsuit taken by Floyd Landis and the US Government under the False Claims Act that could see him lose tens of millions of dollars.

“I have children, I am very proud but I do not have projects," he said. My life is complicated. It always has been, but it is particularly complicated at the moment. I am entangled in legal quicksand.”
 

Another one of Armstrong's enemies is Betsy Andreu, the wife of former teammate Frankie. The pair have been at loggerheads several times in the past, with Andreu accusing Armstrong of doping on several occasions.

Andreu is not all impressed by Armstrong's attempt to reconcile himself with his enemies.

“Lance’s reconciliation tour, aka the I-really-want-to-compete-at-an-elite-level-again tour, is nothing more than a charade to back up his call for a version of a Truth and Reconciliation Committee that will exonerate him,” she wrote in a recent article for Crankpunk.

“Consider these 3 instances. Three days before we were deposed in the SCA case in October 2005, Lance calls Frankie for the first time in almost two years. In his deposition, Lance said he called Frankie just to say hello. Frankie testified he called to talk about our imminent depositions as well as Kathy LeMond’s deposition.

“The day before he tapes Oprah in January 2013, he starts his reconciliation tour by calling people. Frankie and I are the only ones who spoke with him. Of course, Oprah asks him if he’s called people to apologize. Voila! He can say he talked to us.”

“The weekend before his big Monday hearing in D.C. regarding the whistleblower case, he meets with Emma – and agrees to go on camera for the world to see how very sorry he is. It just happens to be the weekend before his big court date.”

“Nothing changes if nothing changes,” she added. “Nothing has changed with Lance. He is still desperately trying to control the narrative. The problem for him is not many are listening.”

Armstrong has said that he will participate in a Truth and Reconciliation Process if the UCI and WADA agrees on the principles.