This is supposed to be one of the greatest sports docs ever made, and was seminal. I’ve not seen it yet, but it follows the 1976 Paris roubaix, which makes yesterday’s stage look like a park cycle.
Should be worth taping.
Cheers for the heads up.
I’ve been wanting to see it for ages.
Lovely timing for Froome and Cound to have a cuddle on the couch and take in the glory of the pavé.
[QUOTE=“flattythehurdler, post: 981153, member: 1170”]This is supposed to be one of the greatest sports docs ever made, and was seminal. I’ve not seen it yet, but it follows the 1976 Paris roubaix, which makes yesterday’s stage look like a park cycle.
Should be worth taping.[/QUOTE]
Terrific. Managed to download it from a cycling torrents place a couple of years ago but then lost it somehow before I watched it I think.
Very dull so far. A chap adjusting his saddle and a few ugly oul wans drinking tea.
Sure you aren’t watching radharc ?
Fucksake… A documentary on cycling…
Lots of lovely Citroen DS porn here.
Great show. Thanks for the tip off Flatty.
Haven’t watched this yet but for some reason it reminded me of this incident from the 1987 Tour of Flanders; On the cobble-stoned ascent of the Koppenberg, Danish rider, Jesper Skibby, is knocked to the ground by the car carrying the Race Director. Rather than stopping, the car proceeded to drive over the wheel of Skibbys bicycle, much to the outrage of the large crowds lining the route. The officials car was later pelted with stones and mud on it’s arrival at the finish. His bullshit excuse for not stopping was that the peleton were advancing quickly from behind.
Great documentary, loved the footage of 70s rural France especially when the race was stopped twice by striking workers. De Vlaeminck, Moser and Merckx utterly dominated the event during the 70s and this was a brilliant insight into how tough those guys were. The winner Marc Demeyer dropped dead from a heart attack six years later aged just 31.
I thought it was very dull.
I have it recorded and watched the first 20 minutes of it last night before I went to bed. Looked rather dull and boring alright.
You chaps who found it dull clearly never entered the sphere of cycling and have no concept nor appreciation of the sport. It’s lost on you.
It didn’t look like hell at all. It looked more like a pastoral spin over dusty roads. Maybe if it had a been a bit wet and there a few accidents it might have livened it up a bit. And the narrators baritone monotone was stultifying.
It’s nothing to do with the visuals fagan. It’s the sheer demand of human strength and endeavor in a one day race, 186 miles along a cobbled pathway. That is a race for tough men. Speaking of which our own Sean Kelly won it twice in 84 and 86. A truly great Tipperary man. The reference to hell is the magnitude of hurt and self sacrifice endurance and pain the race will give those brave and fit enough to participate. This was 1976. Ok it was April but you could see even that early that year the most famous of anticyclones of the latter part of the 20th century was in full grip across europe. Hazy cloudless hot day would have been a killer compared to a wet day which would be rather cooling in comparison. I found it compelling viewing. The air was almost unbreathable with all the dust. The black dirty faces of the riders at the finish. The strikers added to it I thought. The ordinariness of the faces of the people, the man with the fag in his mouth painting the bhp logo, the anxiousness of the men listening to the hand held wirelesses. Classic tv I thought. The old dears drinking beer in the pub with their friends and stuffing their faces with food. The blandness of the narrators monotone voice added extra spice to the show in that it reminded you of the toughness of the men. No hysteria, no hyperbole blather, just another day in the saddle type commentary. Pure class. Fuck it I think I’m going to download it and watch it again. 
Here’s an Emmy award winning broadcast from CBS of the 1988 version featuring our very own Sean Kelly.