Bruyneel, Armstrong's former team manager, expresses remorse upon returning to the Tour de France after 14 years

The program carefully considered whether Bruyneel, who has been suspended as a sports director for life, should be invited. "According to the rules of the VRT, we are allowed to invite someone who has been suspended, but this must be mentioned. We made this clear to Bruyneel himself. He knows that questions about his past will come up, and he is prepared to answer them," said editor-in-chief Leendert Derck.

Bruyneel has a podcast with Lance Armstrong, Bradley Wiggins, and George Hincapie, in which he discusses the ins and outs of contemporary cycling. “It is relevant for us to provide context for the person sitting next to Armstrong, who may not be familiar to many younger cycling fans.”

“He still follows cycling very closely. His analyses are often very insightful. He has a great understanding of the sport and is still a very strong tactician. He is also still in contact with sports directors and managers from the current peloton,” the Belgian broadcasting company said in its explanation.

“But I understand that some people will still wonder why we are bringing Bruyneel back. He has often behaved arrogantly towards the media in the past. It is that arrogance that many people find offensive,” they added. “If Bruyneel didn't carry that past with him, he would undoubtedly be asked to be an analyst more often. We don't want to bring him in as a regular analyst. But it's good to invite him once.”

Vannieuwkerke addressed the taboo subject right at the start of the show. “I didn't feel like an outcast in the Tour,” said Bruyneel. “It's been 14 years since I was in the Tour, and it was nice to be back. I think everyone is a child of their time.”

According to Bruyneel, the arrogance that was mentioned was a misjudgment on his part and that of the rest of Lance Armstrong's inner circle. “That was very wrong. We lived in our bubble of winning the Tour, and everything had to be sacrificed for that. That is very wrong, and we have learned lessons from it. We were caught up in the frenzy of winning, winning, winning, and feeling untouchable. Looking back on it now, I do think we felt that way sometimes.”