It’s difficult to think of a bigger, more shocking episode in recent sports history than the public downfall of cycling champion Lance Armstrong. It played out to drip-drip effect over the years and finally blew up with his mea culpa in an infamous interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2013. It was hard to watch as he squealed and squirmed.

The person who made it happen, who relentlessly pursued Armstrong, was London Sunday Times reporter David Walsh, the man Armstrong memorably called “that little fucking troll”.

The Irishman, who visited South Africa last year and has done so through the years, was like a pitbull who refused to let go, even when his colleagues believed there was no story.

They were wrong and when Walsh told it in his magnificent book, Seven Deadly Sins, it read like an other-worldly thriller. The detail and the investigative work, gleaned from many years’ hard work, was remarkable.

It’s just as well that a film has been made – The Program – which tells the story of Walsh’s crusade. Two documentaries have been made of Armstrong’s downfall, but The Program is the first biographical drama film.

I enjoyed a preview screening on Thursday and came away impressed with the pace and power of the film. Ben Foster plays Armstrong and he not only has a strong resemblance to the disgraced hero, he pulls off the familiar tics and mannerisms we remember so well. The dark, nasty side of Armstrong is portrayed with some style.

Denis Menochet, the French actor who plays the malevolent Johan Bruyneel, the Svengali of the peloton, is perfectly cast and on occasion steals the show with his powerful presence.

It’s fun watching Chris O’Dowd in the role of David Walsh and the film faithfully captures his long struggle to convince his friends and colleagues that Armstrong was dirty.

At one point Armstrong tells him that extraordinary accusations require extraordinary evidence, which is precisely what Walsh delivered.

There’s a cameo of sorts by Dustin Hoffman, as required by Hollywood, no doubt, but the other highlight of the film, and perhaps the real hero, are the cycling scenes. Some of the recreated footage is spliced with real footage, lending an authenticity to a film that flies along as fast as the protagonists do.

The Project opens in SA later this month. And, no, you don’t have to be a cycling buff to enjoy it.