Lance Armstrong movie The Program gets thrilling first trailer starring Ben Foster and Chris O'Dowd

Journalist David Walsh was stopping at nothing to bring the cyclist down

Ben Foster plays Lance Armstrong in Stephen Frears' The Program

Long-awaited Lance Armstrong biopic The Program has finally got its thrilling first trailer, which sees the disgraced seven-time Tour de France champion lie through his teeth about his use of illegal performance-enhancing drugs.

Based on book Seven Deadly Sins: My Pursuit of Lance Armstrong by Irish journalist David Walsh, the biopic will trace the infamous US rider's fall from global icon to denounced cheat.

Chris O'Dowd looks brilliant in the role of Walsh, who dedicated 13 years of his life to exposing Armstrong's secret dependence on steroids, while Ben Foster is in the lead. Lee Pace stars as Armstrong's former agent Bill Stapleton.

"Inside each and every one of us is something more potent and more powerful than any drug. It's called, the will to survive," Armstrong says in voiceover at the start of the clip, before disturbing scenes of blood and syringes show him undergoing systematic doping.

But Walsh is on Armstrong's tail and not letting go: "He's a man transformed. He's recovered from cancer and turned into bloody superhero. He wins and wins and he celebrates, he meets the president, he gets more sponsors, more money, more fame. The man is a cheat!"

The 90-second teaser ends with Armstrong rehearsing his press conference lie in a bathroom mirror and proving himself a terrifyingly convincing actor. "I'm the most tested athlete on the face of the planet but I have never tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs," he says, as Walsh only grows more determined to out him as a criminal.

Oscar-winning director Stephen Frears is behind the camera along with The Theory of Everything producers Working Title. The Program is yet to receive a UK release date but is expected later this year.