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Lance is now at rear of Q

Lance Armstrong faces a long road to repairing his reputation.

After a decade of doping denials, the disgraced cyclist has been on a serious downhill run in the public’s opinion based on his latest Q Score, a closely watched measure of recognition and popularity that marketers use to evaluate celebrities’ appeal.

After his seventh Tour de France win in 2005, just 11 percent of people viewed Armstrong negatively. That figure has risen to 27 percent since he was accused of a sophisticated doping scheme, according to his September Q Score. The average sports star has a negative score of 24 percent.

“He’s going to have to do some heavy-duty mea culpas,” said Henry Schafer, executive vice president of Marketing Evaluations, which produces Q Scores. “The thing to keep in mind is, how soon did the celebrity respond? The longer the response takes, the worse the recovery period is.”

Still, Armstrong is viewed less negatively than Tiger Woods, who has a negative score of 43 percent after his philandering, and Kobe Bryant’s 29 percent years after sexual assault charges against him were dropped.