Lance Armstrong fans divided over doping claims

Lance Armstrong's cycling career is legendary. He has won the Tour de France seven times, come back from cancer, and inspired millions. Now, he's facing a new round of doping allegations.

But for many fans, they're standing by their champion.

CBS News National Correspondent Ben Tracy reports at the final stage of the Tour of California on Sunday, Armstrong wasn't in the race -- but he was still the talk of the event.

One fan told Tracy, "He won all those races, all of a sudden he's getting caught now because he retired? Like, come on."

On "60 Minutes" Sunday, one of Armstrong's former teammates told Correspondent Scott Pelley that the superstar cyclist lied and did take banned substances.

Cyclist Tyler Hamilton said, "There was EPO, there was testosterone. I did see a transfusion, a blood transfusion."

But in a crowd still largely bound to Armstrong, many gave him the benefit of the doubt.

Tracy asked one woman, "Why do you think he did not cheat?"

She replied, "I don't know. Just a feeling inside. You know. He just strikes me as the type of person that wouldn't do something like that."

But the "60 minutes" investigation uncovered that some of Armstrong's ex-teammates have now told federal authorities that Armstrong cheated, Tracy reported.

Pelley said in the "60 Minutes" report, "One of those riders is Armstrong's former teammate George Hincapie, who Armstrong once said was like a brother to him."

When CBS News found Hincapie at the race Sunday, he would not talk about Armstrong, telling Tracy, "I'm not talking on an ongoing investigation. I'm sorry."

The organizers of the race, Tracy said, view the Armstrong news as a big distraction. They don't want to talk about it, and they've asked the riders not to, either.

One rider handed Tracy a "no comment" response.

Tracy replied, "OK. It doesn't seem like people want to talk about this."

"No," the cyclist said. "I'd rather talk about the racing."

Another rider said, "Cycling in general, you shouldn't be drawing back in the past -- should be looking to the future."

But some fans following the "60 Minutes" report are now changing their minds.

One man told Tracy, "For a long time, I chose to believe. He might have realistically doped, along with the other guys."

Another said, "All the top athletes cheat. It's sad."