NO MATTER HOW vehemently he defends himself against doping allegations, Armstrong knows he can't prove his innocence retroactively. Instead he wants to end speculation by making himself one of the most transparent professional athletes in history. He's hired Don Catlin, CEO of the nonprofit group Anti-Doping Research, to run his independent testing program. Catlin is credited with developing the system of "biological passports" now endorsed by the UCI, cycling's governing body. Rather than testing Armstrong's blood or urine for traces of individual drugs like EPO or steroids, Catlin will measure his normal levels of red blood cells, growth hormones, and natural steroids, and then use these as a baseline throughout the season. A rapid increase in one of these biomarkers will signal that he's cheating, regardless of whether drugs are found in his system. (By early December, Catlin and Armstrong still hadn't started their program.) Armstrong also points out that he'll be subject to the rules of the UCI, the World Anti-Doping Agency, USA Cycling, and the United States Olympic Committee, as well as the random, out-of-competition controls those organizations require.

Indeed, at press time, Armstrong had been subjected to at least seven random controls since he announced his comeback. As documented on his Twitter profile, the fifth one took place two days after our interview: Done with my "test." 4th "surprise" control since the comeback. Any other pro athletes/cyclists getting visited this often? 6:40 AM Nov 13th. Still, the doubters persist, and none are more outspoken than Greg LeMond, Armstrong's onetime mentor and friend. The three-time Tour de France champion has become a tireless, if slightly unhinged, muckraker. Two years ago, LeMond testified at Floyd Landis's arbitration hearing, and in a bizarre twist revealed that he had been molested as a young adult. Recently, he sued Trek Bicycles, his longtime sponsor—and Armstrong's too—for discontinuing his line of bicycles because of his criticism of doping in cycling, which was largely focused on Armstrong. He has implied that Armstong's VO₂ max—the measure of the amount of oxygen an athlete can utilize while exercising—is too low to make his victories plausible. (Armstrong's VO₂ max is 85; LeMond's was reportedly 92.5.) LeMond also dismisses independent testing programs like Armstrong's as "a wolf guarding the henhouse." Instead he argues that cyclists should be given VO₂-max tests immediately following races, which would likely require them to hop on a stationary bike after crossing the finish line.

On September 25, Armstrong held a press conference at the Interbike trade show, in Las Vegas, to make an official comeback statement. LeMond was sitting in the front row, waiting to ask the first question.

Did you know Greg LeMond was going to show up?
Yes. The organizers asked me if he could come. I said, Sure. What do I say? No? I think he lost a lot of credibility that day with the press, with the cycling fans. I watched the room. There were several hundred people, and the reaction was not positive. Greg's got issues. It's a sad story, all the way from his failed relationships with everyone in his life. And I talk about loyalty, being around the same people; he's never been able to do that. That's a fact. Probably because of the stuff that came out at the Floyd thing. And I don't like Greg, but I don't wish that on anybody.

So you let him go. He didn't want to ask any questions; he just wanted to preach. He wants VO₂ testing at the end of stages in the Tour. OK, sure. "You just finished out the l'Alpe d'Huez. Son, can you step over here and step on this odometer? We're gonna put this mask on your face and plug up your nose and we're gonna do a VO₂test." Yeah, that'll work.

But are all his ideas really bad?
God bless Greg, but he's not the guy to lay out the program. He's not a scientist. You've got a well-known cyclist—one of the best of all time—just constantly screaming. It's not advancing this cause. We've got to stop sitting around and screaming like that. At the end of the day, cycling has done a lot more than anybody else. First to test for stimulants. First to test for EPO. First first first first.

You don't think drugs are as pervasive in cycling as we're led to believe?
We have to get away from this "It was the fastest Tour in history because they're all doped!" No. That's absolutely, categorically, patently, ridiculously false. Because I can watch Michael Phelps or I can watch swimming [in general], and they were, like, lapping world records. That's because the human body evolves, training evolves. And the Tour de France evolves. When I won the Tour in 1999, my climbing bike? Twenty-one pounds. When I won it in 2005? Fourteen pounds. Man, you go uphill fast if you lose seven pounds. It's a massive disservice to just go, "Oh, that's fucked, he must have cheated." We're fools for thinking that. Will people cheat? Hell, yeah, they're gonna cheat. Did they cheat this year? Yes. Will they cheat in 50 years? Yes. OK. Look, I want a clean sport. I want people to be able to watch the event and say, "I believe that." But I'm not going to stand on the top of this chair and scream how clean I am. I'll stand on top of this chair and scream how hard I work and how much I want to win.