60 Cycles

A great sport flick about a cycling race. Director went on to direct a longer flick about Montréal Olympics which rubbed elbows with Leni Reifensthal flick about Berlin games. Labrecque still goes-on with documentaries. His son lately made a documentary about his dad' production. Not to be overlooked.

Though not quite as long as the Tour De France, this is still a tough 1,500 miles trip in all weathers for those taking part. The film has no narration, just a Doors-esque soundtrack to accompany some creatively shot race coverage that mixes up low angles with wide and distance photography. There are not a great many roads through much of this terrain, so it's quite fun at times to see the tailbacks these guys are causing, or the dust storms they are ploughing through caused by their own plentiful support vehicles. Into Montreal for the closed circuit stages in Lafontaine Park - an entirely more speedily sedate affair with few civilians paying the slightest attention to this invading swarm of cyclists. The bell rings: the end of is near - and we are reminded that this can be a dangerous sport. I could have been doing with some commentary, if only to describe the scenery a little and to tell me who was actually winning, but that said it's still worth a watch illustrating the considerable stamina of these athletes.