Lance Armstrong did his first television interview since confessing to Oprah Winfrey about his performance-enhancing drug use back in January 2013. The disgraced cyclist, in a 30-minute documentary interview with the BBC, expressed regret over some of his past actions, but also said, "If you take me back to 1995, when doping was completely pervasive, I would probably do it again."

Armstrong also told BBC Sports editor Dan Roan, "If I was racing in 2015, no, I wouldn't do it again because I don't think you have to."

In August 2012, the United States Anti-Doping Agency (Usada) stripped Armstrong of his record seven Tour de France titles, while also banning the cancer survivor for life.

Apart from being banned from the sport, he was also forced to step away from his cancer charity, and has mostly kept his silence for the better part of two years.

During the interview from his hometown of Austin, Texas, Armstrong called the decision to dope, a team decision.

"When I made the decision, when my team made that decision, when the whole peloton made that decision, it was a bad decision and an imperfect time. But it happened, and I know what happened because of that," he said suggesting the growth that the sport enjoyed at the time.

Armstrong pointed out that his bike supplier Trek Bicycles enjoyed an exponential growth that went from making $100 million to $1 billion. He also said that his charity went from "raising no money, to raising $500 million" that benefitted some three million people.

"I would want to change the man that did those things, maybe not the decision, but the way he acted," referring to various spats with former colleagues that included former rider Filippo Simeoni, who testified against Armstrong's coach in a 2002 Italian doping case, and US Postal team masseuse Emma O'Reilly, who was one of the earliest sources of information on his dope use.

The documentary "Lance Armstrong: The Road Ahead" will be broadcast on BBC News at 3:30 pm EST on Thursday, January 29.