Washington, Jan 15 (IANS): Former Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong has finally confessed to doping in an interview with Oprah Winfrey Xinhua reported quoting the USA Today paper.

The paper Monday cited an anonymous source but did not give more details. Neither Winfrey nor Armstrong would confirm the report.

"He came READY!" Winfrey tweeted about her two-and-a-half-hour interview with Armstrong.

The interview will be aired on her OWN cable network and its website Thursday night.

Armstrong, 41, has rigorously denied using performance-enhancing drugs and had never tested positive to a doping test.

However, the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) released a 1,000-page report full of details depicting Armstrong as a drug abuser and a bully to pressure his teammates to do so when he rode for the US Postal Service Team and Discovery Channel Team.

The report released in October last year effectively shattered the reputation of the cancer survivor and cycling king, whose competition results dating to August 1998 were erased and he was banned for life.

He was also forced to step down as the chairman of the Livestrong cancer foundation which he founded in 1997.