The Texan continually denied allegations of doping until his web unravelled at the end of last year, with a US Anti-Doping Agency report triggering a life ban and ultimately his two-part confession to TV host Oprah Winfrey.

He confirmed that O‘Reilly had been correct all along in her claims against him, in particular about a back-dated therapeutic user exemption certificate for corticosteroids at the 1999 Tour to ensure he did not test positive.

He has made efforts to contact her. She has shunned them so far, but is willing to meet Armstrong after having a “physical pressure” relieved.

In an interview with the Daily Mail, O‘Reilly said: “Lance responded to my accusations that he was a drug cheat by branding me a prostitute and an alcoholic.

“(In the interview) he said I was one of the people who had been ‘run over‘ and that he owed me an apology, but more crucially he confirmed that my story about a back-dated prescription was true.

“There was this tightness in my chest that was suddenly released. I don‘t think I‘d even realised, in all these years, that it was there. Only when it left me.

“He said he had reached out and tried to contact me. I want to speak to him but I‘d rather do it face to face. I‘d like to explain why I told my story in the first place.

“I‘d like to ask Lance how he could come after me in the way he did when he knew what I was saying was true. He told Oprah he couldn‘t remember suing me, but I don‘t believe that for a second.

“There is a part of me that does have a bit of sympathy for Lance. I know this will be killing him. But at the same time I think about the way he hid behind the cancer in trying to defend himself. What a piece of work he is.”