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In ESPN's new Lance Armstrong documentary, LANCE, by filmmaker Marina Zenovich, the American went to Italy in 2013 to apologize to Italian rider Filippo Simeoni, who defamed him at the 2004 Tour de France. He explained that he apologized. In response, Simeoni told the Italian newspaper Il Giornale on Monday that he believes Armstrong deserves a second chance.

On stage 18 of the 2004 Tour, Filippo Simeoni of Domina Vacanze tried to bridge to a six-man breakaway, but race leader Lance Armstrong of US Postal followed him.

Armstrong openly put on a show because in 2002, Simeoni testified against Armstrong's coach, Dr. Michele Ferrari, in all seven of his Tour de France victories from 1999 to 2005. Armstrong later admitted doping and was stripped of all Tour titles.

Simeoni, who also doped while working with Ferrari throughout the 1990s, filed a defamation suit against Armstrong for calling Simeoni a liar for speaking out against Ferrari.

"You have made a big mistake. You should not have testified against Dr. Ferrari and especially you should not have sued me for defamation. I have no problem with that. I have time and money, and I can ruin you whenever I want," Simeoni later revealed that Armstrong had told him, confirming his American feelings toward the Italian.

In the new documentary, Armstrong recalls going to Italy in 2013 to apologize to Simeoni. On Monday, Simeoni told ilgiornale.it the rest of the story.

"Indeed, Lance Armstrong came specifically from Texas to Italy to meet me and speak to me in person. He called me and arranged to meet me in Rome. Pierre Bergonzi [a journalist for Gazzetta dello Sport], a Texan friend, and my interpreter were also with me."

"We talked to each other for over an hour. Above all, I listened to his heartfelt apologies, and I explained my anguish, anger, and pain over what he had put me through.

"I freed myself from many ghosts that had haunted me for years. However, it still took me a long time to gain the strength to speak about it calmly, with the appropriate calmness required."

Of Armstrong, Simeoni added: "He was very strong and powerful. "He was so strong and powerful that someone who wasn't in the same [cycling] environment couldn't even imagine what he was like. He had a crazy physique, but it was his head that made the difference."

"But to get what he got, he made some serious mistakes. He lost his fame, which was the most beautiful and precious thing he had. Simeoni said of Armstrong's work with cancer patients at the height of his career, before he admitted to doping, "He ruined the dreams of many cancer patients.

On the aftermath of the events that unfolded on stage 18 of the 2004 Tour de France between Anumas and Ron Le Sonnier, Simeoni continued: "He wanted to teach me a lesson. And he did it."

Simeoni also said.

When they returned to the peloton, Armstrong made a "zip your lips" gesture to the television cameras. [as if I were the real traitor, as if I were an infidel to be driven into the sewers.

"He is a man who made a mistake, admitted he was wrong, and made amends. He has atoned for his sins and everyone deserves a second chance." They took away his seven Tours, but anyone who has ever ridden a bike knows that he won those Tours. Even without doping, he probably would have won.

"Il Giornale" magazine asked if other dopers (like Armstrong, who, like the Italians Danilo Di Luca and Riccardo Ricco, for example, have been banned from the sport for a long time or for life) should be given another chance, Simeoni replied: "Why not? They are all part of the same cycle. It was a very difficult, complicated, and terrible time. They were misled, they were sanctioned, and now it's time to jump forward and turn the page. Even someone like Armstrong.