Lance Armstrong

Shock and disenchantment were among the reactions from people most familiar with Lance Armstrong's history after his on-air confession Thursday night that he had cheated during his celebrated cycling career despite the years of denial.

"I could not believe that Lance apologized," Betsy Andreu, the wife of Armstrong's former teammate and close friend Frankie Andreu, said today on ABC's "Good Morning America".

"Lance doesn't say, 'I'm sorry.' Lance isn't used to telling the truth and so I think in the days to come, in the months to come, I'm hoping that we'll see the contrition. Actions speak louder than words so if the words aren't empty ...," Andreu said.

ABC News consultant and USA Today columnist Christine Brennan called Armstrong's admitting that he used performance-enhancing drugs "a major miscalculation."

"This is like Bernie Madoff coming back after three months or Richard Nixon coming back after three months. No one wants to hear from those people so soon," Brennan told George Stephanopoulos on "Good Morning America."

"It was a lose-lose going in. I think he did more harm than good to his reputation, and he just looked cold-blooded, and cutthroat, and ruthless," Brennan said.

Minutes after Armstrong's confession aired on Oprah Winfrey's OWN network, the Livestrong Foundation -- the Austin-Texas-based cancer charity that he founded -- released a statement expressing disappointment in their former leader.

"We at the LIVESTRONG Foundation are disappointed by the news that Lance Armstrong misled people during and after his cycling career, including us," the statement read. "Earlier this week, Lance apologized to our staff and we accepted his apology in order to move on and chart a strong, independent course.

"Our success has never been based on one person -- it's based on the patients and survivors we serve every day, who approach a cancer diagnosis with hope, courage and perseverance."

Travis Tygart, head of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, said in a statement, "Tonight, Lance Armstrong finally acknowledged that his cycling career was built on a powerful combination of doping and deceit. His admission that he doped throughout his career is a small step in the right direction. But if he is sincere in his desire to correct his past mistakes, he will testify under oath about the full extent of his doping activities."

The agency issued an October report in which 11 former Armstrong teammates described the system under which they and Armstrong received drugs with, they say, the knowledge of their coaches and help of team physicians. As a result of the organization's findings, Armstrong was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles. Soon, longtime sponsors including Nike began to abandon him, too.

John Fahey, president of the World Anti-Doping Agency said, "He was wrong, he cheated and there was no excuse for what he did. If he was looking for redemption, he didn't succeed in getting that."

Such a reaction\ to the highly anticipated interview was only the tip of the iceberg as pundits, those close to Armstrong and even everyday people took to Twitter and other social media outlets to share their thoughts on what Armstrong said was "one big lie that I repeated a lot of times."

Cyclist and former Armstrong teammate Jonathan Vaughters tweeted, "A good first step. I need to sleep."

David Walsh, author of the Lance Armstrong book, "Seven Deadly Sins," tweeted, "First reaction is Oprah began the interview brilliantly with her series of 'yes or no' questions. It felt good to hear him admit to doping."

The reaction included Brennan's USA Today column headlined, "If Possible, Armstrong Less Likeable After Oprah."

"He was even more unlikable than one might have imagined. He was smug. He was curt. He was cold and unfeeling," Brennan wrote.

Part two of the interview will air tonight on Winfrey's OWN network.

But more legal troubles could be on the horizon for the former Tour de France winner after this tell-all interview.

"He's opening himself up to an enormous amount of possible civil litigation here that could lose him millions of dollars," ABC News legal analyst Dan Abrams said.

There are at least three major civil suits in the works against Armstrong, 41.

Oprah extends Lance Armstrong interview to two nights

Hearing the media drumbeat grow louder and louder, Oprah Winfrey has decided to stretch her Lance Armstrong interview from one night to two.

So clear your calendar for Thursday at 9 p.m. (as originally announced) — and now also Friday at 9 — for “Oprah and Lance Armstrong: The Worldwide Exclusive” on OWN network.

In Tuesday’s special-inflation announcement, OWN promised that the cyclist would address the “alleged doping scandal” that has plagued his career.

Armstrong is going to come clean to Oprah, but not go into great detail about specific cases and events, according to USA Today. Two nights is a lot of time to fill with not-go-into-detail about specific cases and events.

Over the years, Oprah has carved out a niche as the first Station of the Cross, on the Road to Redemption for celebrities.

Most recently, David Letterman discussed his office affairs with Oprah — aka the Queen of the Confessional — to clean up his reputation as he was being honored by the Kennedy Center.

And back in 2010, Jay Leno made his pilgrimage to Oprah before returning as host of “The Tonight Show” show in March of that year. Leno sought absolution after being blamed for Conan O’Brien’s resignation from the iconic NBC late-night show. Leno admitted to Oprah that he’d “told a little white lie” when he announced on the air in 2004 that he would “retire” after Conan took over “Tonight” in ’09.

Anyway, Armstrong’s sit-down with Oprah is the only interview that the seven-time Tour de France winner has given since he was stripped of his titles and dropped from millions of dollars in endorsement deals. That happened last year after the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency released an extensive report accusing the cyclist of doping throughout his career.

Armstrong received a lifetime ban on competing professionally. Late last year, Armstrong resigned as chairman of the foundation he created, Livestrong, which has raised hundreds of millions of dollars to fight cancer.

Oprah herself told the gang on BFF Gayle King’s show, “CBS This Morning,” that she added the second night because her interview with Armstrong went on for 2 1/2 hours. Although the first night was scheduled for 90 minutes, she explained Tuesday, that includes only 65 minutes of interview.

Yes, 25 minutes of Other Stuff. So set your DVRs.

Oprah said the interview will run over two nights because “we felt that to leave over half of this on the cutting-room floor, after millions of people have been waiting for years for many of these answers, would not be the right thing to do.”

Speaking of Armstrong, during her appearance on “CBS This Morning,” show host Charlie Rose tried to steer Oprah back to “this question of this man” and “how was he different than you expected.”

He also asked Oprah where she ranked this interview in her long career interviewing celebrities.

And if you’re thinking Oprah dismissed the former to focus on the latter — you win!

“How was he different? I’ll let you be the judge of that,” she responded.

Then, she settled in: “Back in 1993, of course, I did Michael Jackson live around the world,” she said, but this Armstrong interview will be live-streamed around the world — and on OWN, she said, which means, she said, “I think the number of people who have exposure to it makes it the biggest interview I’ve ever done.”

To that end, she urged folks to go to her web site to find out where OWN is located on their TV menu, if they didn’t know already.

Oprah wants to make OWN ratings history with Armstrong this week. To date her biggest OWN number is the 3.5 million who watched her interview Whitney Houston’s daughter last March, followed by the 2.5 million she snagged with a Rihanna interview in August 2012.

Before it even airs, the interview is being dissected, based on the tease clip that OWN has sent out. One body language expert told Anderson Cooper on his daytime show Tuesday that Armstrong was very excited and needed pacifying during his meeting with Oprah – which is so obvious because he touched his nose and his upper lip.

Lance Armstrong confesses to Oprah he doped before he had cancer

Lance Armstrong confessed to Oprah Winfrey that he started using performance-enhancing drugs to gain an edge in cycling in the mid-1990s, before he was diagnosed with cancer, a person familiar with the interview told USA TODAY Sports.

Armstrong and his representatives also have had discussions with the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency about meeting soon over several days for a "full debrief," when Armstrong would be expected to "answer every question, give over records, telephone calls, test results, everything," the source said.

It is not certain if Armstrong will agree to the full debriefing, but he is aware it would be a prerequisite to any potential reduction of his lifetime ban from sanctioned competitions, the source told USA TODAY Sports.

The person requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the case and because the Winfrey interview details are supposed to remain confidential until it airs Thursday night. Armstrong had intended to make a general confession to Winfrey but avoid getting into great detail during the interview, which was held Monday in Armstrong's hometown of Austin.

Winfrey went on Twitter to say the interview lasted more than 21/2 hours and Armstrong "came READY!" She will appear today on CBS This Morning to promote the interview, which will be shown on the Oprah Winfrey Network.

It is the public's reaction to Armstrong's apology that is critical to the cyclist, who was not only stripped of his seven Tour de France titles but was dropped by his sponsors in October after USADA released more than 1,000 pages of evidence against him. Armstrong had said over the weekend that he looked forward to a candid conversation with Winfrey.

Armstrong's admission that he started doping in the mid-1990s is consistent with USADA's evidence. In one statement, former Armstrong teammate George Hincapie said he and Armstrong started using the blood booster EPO around 1995 or '96 because they felt they otherwise could not compete. Another cyclist, Stephen Swart, said in his statement that he knew his teammates on the 1995 Tour de France team were using EPO, including Armstrong.

The source told USA TODAY Sports that the Armstrong camp also has had discussions with federal authorities about naming others who were involved in doping, a step that could qualify as the substantial assistance that cycling's governing bodies would require before considering a reduction of Armstrong's penalties.

According to the source, one stumbling block for Armstrong could be the International Cycling Union, which the source says remains opposed to "truth and reconciliation," meaning the possibility of reducing Armstrong's ban to anything less than eight years.

Before talking to the iconic talk-show host Winfrey on Monday, Armstrong issued an emotional apology to the staff at Livestrong, the charity he founded to support cancer survivors.

Armstrong, who was diagnosed with advanced cancer in 1996 and made a remarkable recovery, stepped down from the foundation's board in October after USADA's case file spelled out in detail how and when he used performance-enhancing drugs and blood transfusions to boost his performance.

The evidence also showed Armstrong going to extraordinary efforts to enforce a code of silence among cyclists, attacking anyone who implicated him.

A confession comes with legal risks for the cyclist. Justice Department attorneys have recommended the government join a federal whistleblower suit filed by Armstrong's former teammate, Floyd Landis, a federal law enforcement official briefed on the matter but not authorized to discuss it publicly told USA TODAY Sports.

The suit alleges Armstrong's doping defrauded the government and violated his contract with the U.S. Postal Service, which sponsored his cycling team for around $30 million.

Armstrong, 41, has sought to reconcile with Landis to no avail.