British rider Mark Cavendish has called on cycling cheats to "confess" to doping following the revelations of American former Tour de France hero Lance Armstrong.

The 41-year-old was stripped of his record seven Tour de France titles and issued a lifetime ban from cycling after he was accused of running "the most sophisticated, professionalised and successful doping programme the sport has ever seen".

"If you've done something, confess," Cavendish told BBC Sport. "That anyone can damage the sport I love right now, it's frustrating.

"There are cheats in entertainment, journalists cheat, every single sport has cheats. If you put the effort into catching them and you have a structure that does things properly, you're going to catch a cheat.

"It doesn't happen in other sports, not because they are clean but because it's not got the structure cycling has. In my eyes, cycling is the cleanest sport."

Meanwhile, Cavendish is preparing to join up with Omega Pharma-Quick Step after deciding to leave Team Sky.