Lance Armstrong says his family was ‘saved’ by his Uber investment that was ‘too good to be true’

The ex-professional cyclist, stripped of all seven Tour de France titles after engineering one of the most sophisticated doping schemes in sport, has made up to $50m from investing in Uber

Lance Armstrong made up to $50m from unknowingly investing in Uber (PA)

Former cycling champion Lance Armstrong, whose fall from grace cost him millions of dollars in lawsuits and endorsements, said his investment in Uber Technologies Inc had saved his family, according to a CNBC report on Thursday.

Armstrong, who was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and banned for life from the sport for doping, gave $100,000 to a venture capital fund that invested in the ride-hailing company around 2009, the report said.

"It's saved our family," Armstrong told CNBC in an interview that aired on Thursday.

Armstrong said in the interview he was not aware that he was investing in Uber, which at the time was worth $3.7m, when he gave money to venture capitalist Chris Sacca of Lowercase Capital.

Uber, which is preparing to go public next year, could be valued at $120bn according to proposals made by US banks bidding to run the offering.

Armstrong did not disclose how much his investment in Uber is currently worth, saying "it's a lot more" and "it's too good to be true".

When asked by the interviewer if he had made "10, 20, 30, 40 or $50m", Armstrong replied: "It's one of those. It's a lot, it's a lot."

Armstrong won the Tour de France a record seven times but was stripped of his titles and banned for life in 2012 by the US Anti-Doping Agency after it accused him of engineering one of the most sophisticated doping schemes in sports.

Armstrong was stripped of all seven Tour de France titles (AFP)

The American later admitted to the cheating in a January 2013 televised interview with Oprah Winfrey.

Reuters