Best cycling films?

[sinicaite]

Hi to all. It is very sad to see, but the world gets quarantined more and more because of the corona virus. Fortunately, where I live, I can still go for a bike ride, but all races and bigger events in general are being cancelled. It is not unlikely that I won’t be able to go for a bike ride soon too because of the virus restrictions.

That lead me thinking that I should stock up with cycling films. I thought about the best cycling films I have ever seen. One recent documentary that I really loved was “Wonderful Losers: A Different World” by Arunas Matelis, which had Svein Tuft and Chris Anker Sorensen (and others) as its heroes. I thought it was quite artsy, but really inspiring. It felt it showed the true beauty of cycling. I bought it on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/movie/wonderful-losers-a-different-world/id1491074255

What are your favourite cycling films? Can we gather a list for quarantine days, just in case? ))

 

[SafeBet]

Interesting topic. Could come handy in a few days when I'll be spending all of my days at home.

The Program is a decent movie on Lance Armstrong's dopng history. There's another one I've watched about Lance but can't remember the title.
Pantani: the accidental death of a cyclist is an interesting documentary, especially if you know nothing about the Pirata.
I enjoyed The Triplets of Belleville, an animated feature about an old woman looking for his grandson, who went missing during a Tour de France stage.

As for italian cinema, there's an entertaining movie called Totò al Giro d'Italia, starring the biggest comedian ever in Italy. It's far from his best film, but it's not bad.
And if we're not talking about cycling as a professional sport you should probably watch Bicycle Thieves, among the best italian movies ever. It's set a couple of years after the war ended, a time when having a bicycle could make the difference between working (and thus surviving) or not.

 

[Pricey_sky]

Agree with Safebet above, The Program is a good film. I also found the documentary The Armstrong Lie very good. Obviously we won’t go into the details on this side of the forum.

Another documentary I enjoyed watching a few years ago was from the old HTC Highroad team, called Chasing Legends.

 

[spalco]

A Sunday in Hell is a classic any cycling fan should watch.

Breaking Away is cheesy as ***, but good fun imo.

 

[Pricey_sky]

A Sunday in Hell is a classic any cycling fan should watch.

Breaking Away is cheesy as ***, but good fun imo.

Completely forgot about A Sunday In Hell, fantastic watch.

 

[Sestriere]

I enjoyed 'Overcoming'. It covers the 2004 Tour de France alongside Team CSC, managed by Bjarne Riis. Some other very interesting characters are Ivan Basso, Jens Voigt, Bobby Julich and Carlos Sastre.

'The Road Uphill' covers Team Radioshack Leopard's 2011 Tour. Main characters are the Schleck bros. Every Andy-nostalgic should watch this one, although it's quite painful.

 

[Põhja Konn]

" Stars and watercarriers" ,about 1973 Giro, is another classic.

 

[42x16ss]

A few of my favourites:

Pantani, Accidental death of a cyclist - Beautifully made, captures some of the essence as to why he is remembered. Wigans, Lemond and Berzin still seem to hold Pantani in awe. A tragic, but fascinating story.
Slaying the Badger - The whole 85/86 La Vie Claire feud between Hinault and Lemond. Gets nasty
Overcoming - CSC at the 2004 Tour. Had a newfound respect for Sastre after watching this, a lesser man would have thrown in the towel. Good reminder of how awesome Voigt was pre-hype.
Hell On Wheels - T-Mobile at the 2003 Tour, specifically Zabel and Aldag coming to terms with the beginning of the end
All For One - GreenEdge from Inception through to Hayman's Epic Roubaix win. Some very funny moments
Overcoming Series - Lachlan Morton wanting to ride his bike every day, but having to come to terms with the fact he needs to be a pro to do so. Lots of cameos in 2 and 3 including Phinney and Wurf.

Thought The Program was terrible, had a "made for TV" feel right through it and played with the truth.

There's a few other threads on this topic if you look back far enough.

 

[Koronin]

Sounds like I need to look for "A Sunday in Hell".

 

[sir fly]

Sounds like I need to look for "A Sunday in Hell".

Ahhh, Koronin, that's the alphabet. Can't believe you don't have it in the personal video library.
Le Vélo de Ghislain Lambert is worth watching... A sort of complement to already mentioned, animated, Les Triplettes de Belleville.

 

[42x16ss]

Sounds like I need to look for "A Sunday in Hell".

Yes you do. It's on YouTube, a good watch.

 

[Broccolidwarf]

Sounds like I need to look for "A Sunday in Hell".

View: https://youtu.be/zxBTVU9JDrA

 

[perico]

The Tom Simpson documentary by the BBC was on YouTube at one point and was excellent. Had an atmospheric quality to it and I say that as someone who never really cared about Simpson one way or the other as a rider.

 

[Mayomaniac]

I enjoyed 'Overcoming'. It covers the 2004 Tour de France alongside Team CSC, managed by Bjarne Riis. Some other very interesting characters are Ivan Basso, Jens Voigt, Bobby Julich and Carlos Sastre.

'The Road Uphill' covers Team Radioshack Leopard's 2011 Tour. Main characters are the Schleck bros. Every Andy-nostalgic should watch this one, although it's quite painful.

Sastre in Overcoming is an interesting character and pretty entertaining.
Sadly we never got Overcoming 2: Oleg Tinkoff Boogaloo when Bjarne brought the whole gang back together at Tinkoff...

 

[Gigs_98]

It's not really a film about cycling (though it starts as one) but the movie Ikarus about the Russian doping scandal is one of my absolute favorite documentaries. One of those cases where a film team basically just happens to be at the right place at the right time.

 

[Big Doopie]

Breaking away.

 

[kingjr]

I highly recommend the behind the scenes films of the Ronde van Vlaanderen from 2016-19. I binge watched all of them in one sitting a couple of months ago and loved every minute of it.

De Ronde 100 - Behind the scenes

 

[jaylew]

I highly recommend the behind the scenes films of the Ronde van Vlaanderen from 2016-19. I binge watched all of them in one sitting a couple of months ago and loved every minute of it.

De Ronde 100 - Behind the scenes

Those are great.

 

[Bardamu]

Nasu: Summer in Andalusia.

 

[Breezy1985]

Breaking away.

Passed an abandoned quarry on my cycle yesterday and instantly thought of this

 

[The Hegelian]

I highly recommend the behind the scenes films of the Ronde van Vlaanderen from 2016-19. I binge watched all of them in one sitting a couple of months ago and loved every minute of it.

De Ronde 100 - Behind the scenes

Didn't know about these, thanks for the tip!

 

[ppanther92]

Haven't watched that many cycling related films but the ones I have, I would rate like this:
Ikarus - actually very good
The Road Uphill - good (but I was a huge Schleck fan)
The Programm - okish
The Movistar Netflix Docu - okish

 

[tobydawq]

Haven't watched that many cycling related films but the ones I have, I would rate like this:
Ikarus - actually very good
The Road Uphill - good (but I was a huge Schleck fan)
The Programm - okish
The Movistar Netflix Docu - okish

I think the Movistar docu is really good but I also think it helps a lot if you understand the language.

 

[ppanther92]

I think the Movistar docu is really good but I also think it helps a lot if you understand the language.

This might definitely be the case because I found the english translation to be super weird sometimes and then I was not sure if they really said that or things got lost in translation

 

[Breezy1985]

Shay Elliott - Cycle of Betrayal
A heartbreaking documentary about Irelands first great cyclist.
Paul Kimmages rough rider is a sort of behind the scenes of LA confidential and its aftermath