Lance Armstrong admits careless driving after girlfriend took the blame

Disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong has pleaded guilty to careless driving after first allowing his girlfriend to take the blame for a crash. The offence relates to a crash involving Armstrong’s SUV and two parked cars in the luxury Colorado ski resort of Aspen. Armstrong, who won the Tour de France between 1999 and 2005 until stripped of the title after a drugs scandal, first said his girlfriend, Anna Hansen, was behind the wheel. She told police the couple had been to an Aspen Art Museum party on 28 December and she drove home because “Lance had a little bit to drink”.

We’ve had our family name smeared over every paper in the world in the last couple of years and honestly, I’ve got teenagers, I just wanted to protect my family.

Anna Hansen, Lance Armstrong’s girlfriend

She said she lost control of the car on an icy road and that was why she went into the parked cars. At a later interview, Hansen confessed Armstrong had been driving but said the pair had decided she should say she was responsible. She also retracted her statement that Armstrong had had too much to drink. Armstrong pleaded guilty by post after agreeing a deal so he did not need to appear in court - he was fined $150 and ordered to pay $250 in costs.

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