lance armstrongAbout midway through the second half of Lance Armstrong's exclusive anti-doping confession/interview with Oprah Winfrey, I started to think maybe the "disgraced cyclist" (as he's bound to be known for the rest of his life) wasn't really all that sorry for the lies and cheating and betrayal and everything else. Sure, I believed that he was sorry it all had to happen and sorry it ruined his career. But his apology seemed to come from his head, not his heart. There was no raw emotion behind Armstrong's mea culpa, no tears of true remorse ... until, that is, Oprah asked Armstrong how he broke the news to his kids.

That's when Armstrong finally choked up -- telling Oprah about the moment he learned the eldest of his 5 children, 13-year-old Luke, was defending his father's reputation:

“I said, listen, there’s been a lot of questions about your dad, my career, whether I doped or did not dope, and I’ve always denied, I’ve always been ruthless and defiant about that, which is probably why you trusted me, which makes it even sicker. I want you to know it’s true.”

Armstrong also praised his ex-wife Kristin (mom to Luke and Armstrong's 11-year-old twin daughters) for her philosophy, "The truth will set you free." And he seemed genuine in his praise, just as he seemed genuine in his remorse over lying to Luke. Which makes sense, if you think about it. Why would he show honest emotion of any kind towards the professional cycling world when the professional cycling world encouraged him to be dishonest in the first place?

Do you think Lance Armstrong is really, truly sorry for doping?

 

Image via OWN