Happily for us Wikipedia offers a list of films about bicycles and cycling wherein our favourite mechanical device is key to the plot. The majority are documentaries and the few fictional ones are dramas–notably “Bicycle Thieves” from 1948. Even then, very few are about bicycle racing per se, such as “American Flyers” or “La Petite Reine,” which we reviewed HERE. “The Triplets of Belleville” stands pretty much alone as an animated drama about the Tour de France. Comedy offers even thinner possibilities: “Breaking Away” has bike racing in it but is a coming-of-age comedy/drama, while “Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure” is primarily about bike theft. So there was not much competition in the genre of comedy bike racing films when “Le Vélo de Ghislain Lambert” appeared on screens in 2001.
Magicreme Teammates
This is a pretty strange movie but better than one expects. A French-Belgian coproduction (with English subtitles available), it stars Belgian actor/comedian Benoit Poelvoorde in the title role. He is a bike racing obsessive. He takes menial jobs so he has time to ride. Born the same day as Eddy Merckx, he trains hard and catches the eye of manager Maurice Focodel, who signs him up for a very low-level pro team. This is sponsored by Magicreme, and each team rider is given 50 containers of this cleaning product to peddle for the sponsor. Ghislain Lambert is such a dolt he attempts to sell all 50 of his to the first housewife he meets but in this way he also becomes acquainted with Babette and it is love at first sight.
Magicreme at the start
Ghislain is ambitious but, alas, not very talented in spite of his dedication. He is prone to crashing often. A second-rate domestique at best, he attempts to improve his performance with chemical assistance but this has mixed results. Eventually he is off the team and rides as a solo racer.
One element of the movie that certainly reflects the early 1970s is the relaxed rider and management attitude to performance-enhancing drugs. Lambert’s first use is similar to what Jean Bobet related in his book “Tomorrow We Ride” when Bobet felt crazy-strong at the start of a race…until he suddenly woke up in a ditch.
Lambert is a strangely passive character and actor Poelvoorde relies heavily on facial expressions. However his brother Claude is much more decisive and is not adverse to fisticuffs when necessary. Claude acts as his manager and DS and together they go off to visit the mysterious Dr. Mabuse at his mansion. He is reputed to be the go-to person for performance-enhancing drugs. This is one example of many where the movie parallels real life: “Dr. Mabuse” was the nickname of Bernard Sainz. He was a doping guru for riders including Frank Vandenbroucke, and served prison time for various offences. In the film, Dr. Mabuse’s offering to the Belgian pair is black radishes from from his garden. Interestingly, in 1972, the period of the film, Sainz was actually listed as the team doctor for the Gan squad in spite of having no qualifications.
Meeting Dr. Mabuse
As a solo rider, and shouted onwards by Claude, Lambert participates in what the narrator describes as a “little race,” but which appears to be the legendary Bordeaux-Paris monster event. This race was 600 kms in a single stage, and required the use of dernys to pace the riders.
Lambert’s dream to break Merckx’s One Hour Record in Mexico goes awry although he uses the Cannibal’s training method of riding on rollers in the garage for hours. Wearing a mask to limit his oxygen intake turns out to be a bad idea. Things fall apart for the hapless Lambert, who even visits a barber who offers psychic readings to determine what is holding him back. He also discovers his brother Claude is not the most trustworthy manager.
Epedex Training
Epedex Training
Circumstances bring him back to M. Focodol, who is now managing another team, Epedex Tricatel, which is using much more up-to-date training methods. Lambert ends up at a major race unexpectedly as two of his Epedex teammates have to drop out and he makes up the roster. It turns out that Lambert brings something to the team that delights the sponsor and then the public. This is the period when Eddy Merckx wins everything and commentators are bored stiff. (No parallels to today, of course!) Suddenly, there is a new story as media attention turns to a different Belgian, our Ghislain, and excitement builds as to whether he can make the time cut each day.
Publicity Caravan
The race is unnamed but is clearly based on the route of the 1974 Tour de France, with three stages being quite specific. There is also a climb up the Col d’Izoard. While Ghislain Lambert is perhaps not the most sympathetic of characters, one of the great charms of this film is the attempt by the filmmakers to turn back the clock three decades to show racing as it was. The teams that Lambert races against were all real: Flandria, Gan, Bic, Molteni, Peugeot, Brooklyn. The races all feature huge number of cyclists. Their period kit is correct and their bikes all match. All steel frames, downtube shifters, toe clip pedals, white socks and black shoes and no helmets to be seen, to say nothing of carbon. Even twenty five years ago this must have seemed archaic but it looks great. Kudos for the set director and costume people!
Checking in
There is an accurate mid-1970s feel to the movie, with the riders in their nylon track suits as casual wear, or staying in really crummy hotels with terrifying wallpaper. There are incidents that reflect bike racing history. Even the testing of Claude’s helmet is something that really happened with Jean Robic! Ouch. On reflection it is these kind of details that really make the movie for anyone who enjoys cycling lore. And to release your inner Ghislain Lambert you can even find one of those attractive blue and white Magicreme jerseys online!
Race approaching
“Le Vélo de Ghislain Lambert” is not the comedy masterpiece of bike racing still to come but it does have a lot of funny business. The entire Epedex team looks stunned when their trainer explains the scientific intervals they must do. Look out for the scene when the Belgian police come to calm down an hysterical rifle-waving Lambert at the family home. Or where Claude, in charge of Ghislain’s training, meets Babette’s parents, enjoying the mother’s cakes while preventing Ghislain from eating any. And unlike “Breaking Away,” racing strategy in this movie actually does make sense.
“Le Vélo de Ghislain Lambert,” directed by Philippe Harel
Starring Benoit Poelvoorde, Jose Garcia and Daniel Ceccaldi
113 minutes, colour, with English subtitles (Note: my DVD is Region 2, so a multi-system player is useful)
StudioCanal, 2001
Available from AMAZON HERE.
Netflix carries the movie depending on your region of service.
The post PEZ at the Movies: Le Vélo de Ghislain Lambert appeared first on PezCycling News.
