Lance Armstrong: Winning the Tour de France 'impossible' without doping

On the eve of this year's Tour de France, disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong has said he could not have won the race without blood doping.

Blood doping boosts the amount of red blood cells in the bloodstream. Red blood cells carry oxygen, so the practice increases athletes' aerobic capacity and endurance.

Armstrong did not start the practice, he said, he was just better at it than anybody else. Armstrong complained that 12 other cyclists were charged with doping, but he received the brunt of the criticism.

"I did not invent doping," Armstrong said. "And nor did it end with me."

"It is fine to erase my name from the record book, but the Tour was held between 1999-2005, wasn't it? It was held and there was a winner," Armstrong said. "Who was he? No one has manifested to claim my jerseys."