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Matt Damon for Lance Armstrong movie

Los Angeles - Matt Damon is reportedly in line to star in a Lance Armstrong biopic.

The 42-year-old actor is one of the names in the frame for a movie about the disgraced cyclist - who was recently found to have been engaged in a huge doping scandal and stripped of all the titles he won from 1999 to 2005 - and fellow cyclist Tyler Hamilton's book, The Secret Race, is being pitched to Hollywood film bosses.

The Secret Race looks inside the world of professional cycling and explores the doping issue surrounding the sport and cancer survivor Armstrong, who has been stripped of his seven Tour de France titles.

'Lance was a hero'

Matt is an avid cyclist who completed the Cape Argus Pick 'n Pay Cycle Tour in Cape Town in 2009 while filming rugby movie Invictus in South Africa.

A film insider told The Sun newspaper: "Most sports films end in an inspirational victory. It's hard to work out what the ending would be.

"Lance was a hero before this scandal. The current ending is too depressing. It would be a more appealing story with a more hopeful final act."

Matt is to star in District 9 director Neill Blomkamp's upcoming sci-fi movie Elysium next year alongside Jodie Foster and Sharlto Copley, and he took on the role of secret agent Jason Bourne in the first three movies in the Bourne film franchise between 2002 and 2007, but he recently ruled himself out of reprising the role again.

Elysium is set for release on 9 August 2013.

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