The long-awaited Hollywood biopic on Lance Armstrong is set to be a game-changer, offering a fresh perspective on cycling's most controversial era. But here's where it gets controversial... Johan Bruyneel, Armstrong's former team manager, has welcomed the film as a rare opportunity to respond to a story he believes has been told without him for more than a decade. In an interview, Bruyneel emphasized that the film will be told from a different perspective, and that the angle itself matters more than who ultimately portrays him. The new film, directed by Edward Berger and starring Austin Butler as Armstrong, is framed as a character-driven exploration rather than a procedural reconstruction of anti-doping investigations. For Bruyneel, that distinction is crucial. He has been openly critical of previous documentaries and dramatisations of the Armstrong era, including productions linked to the work of journalist David Walsh. 'I haven’t seen most of them,' he said, 'but I do know that many facts and events were not told. And if they were told, they were not told in the right way.' The involvement of Armstrong himself in the new film is what differentiates it from earlier attempts, according to Bruyneel. Despite welcoming the project, Bruyneel insisted the film would not attempt to soften or excuse what happened during the US Postal era. 'Lance is involved in the project, and it really will be 'the good, the bad and the ugly',” Bruyneel said. “Nothing will be excused, and that is how it should be, but with the necessary nuance.' The emphasis on nuance is at the heart of Bruyneel’s reaction. While the sporting verdicts around Armstrong are long settled, he argues that the absence of balance in how events were later presented has shaped public perception just as strongly as the original offences. Bruyneel’s strongest criticism is not aimed at the outcome of investigations, but at the process that followed. 'We were never put in a position where we could tell our side of the story,' he said, framing the biopic as the first time that opportunity has genuinely existed. Once the film is released, he said, judgment should be left to the audience. 'After that, people can think whatever they want.' But will the film ultimately reshape how cycling’s most controversial period is remembered? That remains uncertain. What is already clear is that the project’s sheer scale has created a platform that figures from the center of that era now believe they can finally use.
