The plot: The Paris-Roubaix cycle is a journey to hell. This classic documentary follows some of cycling’s greats at the time as they battle the many natural and man-made elements in this test of endurance. The film captures the events of the 1976 edition and reveals the atmosphere of a professional race. Leading riders Eddy Merckx, Roger De Vlaeminck (the previous year’s winner), Freddy Maertens, and Francesco Moser are put into focus as they tackle the narrow, cobbled roads and muddy tracks. Not only that but the film gives views of the team director, protester, spectator and mechanic. By the finish in the velodrome in Roubaix only a few riders are in contention. Post-race the exhausted riders, caked in dirt, give interviews in the velodrome’s showers. They look as if they’ve only just returned from hell.
Sports film of the week: A Sunday in Hell
Title: A Sunday in Hell
Director: Jørgen Leth
Release date: 1976
The plot: The Paris-Roubaix cycle is a journey to hell. This classic documentary follows some of cycling’s greats at the time as they battle the many natural and man-made elements in this test of endurance. The film captures the events of the 1976 edition and reveals the atmosphere of a professional race. Leading riders Eddy Merckx, Roger De Vlaeminck (the previous year’s winner), Freddy Maertens, and Francesco Moser are put into focus as they tackle the narrow, cobbled roads and muddy tracks. Not only that but the film gives views of the team director, protester, spectator and mechanic. By the finish in the velodrome in Roubaix only a few riders are in contention. Post-race the exhausted riders, caked in dirt, give interviews in the velodrome’s showers. They look as if they’ve only just returned from hell.
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Cycling documentary Paris-Roubaix Reel stories sports documentaries