Vive le tour!

September 28, 2011

If you're a sucker for cycling nostalgia you'll love this 18 minute time capsule film of the 1962 Tour de France. It touches on interesting things such as how the riders were fed, how they dealt with injuries and of course doping. It's far from being new, but I thought I'd share. You don't need to speak French to know what's going on.

Louis Malle shot most of the documentary as a 30 year old cycling fan and filmmaker with only 2 feature films to his name. The footage was likely shot in 16 mm.

Thank you to Daniel Strauss for sending in.

1962 Tour de France General Classification

1 Jacques Anquetil (FRA) ACCB-Saint Raphaël 114h 31′ 54″
2 Jozef Planckaert (BEL) Flandria-Faema +4′ 59″
3 Raymond Poulidor (FRA) Mercier +10′ 24″
4 Gilbert Desmet (BEL) Carpano +13′ 01″
5 Albertus Geldermans (NED) ACCB-Saint Raphaël +14′ 04″
6 Tom Simpson (GBR) VC XII +17′ 09″
7 Imerio Massignan (ITA) Legnano +17′ 50″
8 Ercole Baldini (ITA) Ignis +19′ 00″
9 Charly Gaul (LUX) G.S. Gazzola +19′ 11″
10 Eddy Pauwels (BEL) Wiels +23′ 04″

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1962_Tour_de_France

tags: 1962, documentary, nostalgia, Tour De France, video

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http://www.cyclingTipsBlog.com cyclingTips

you can see the films with subtitles here:

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3EHJjHP6yc

Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4B6ZycaBelU&feature=related
http://www.cyclingTipsBlog.com cyclingTips

you can see the films with subtitles here:

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3EHJjHP6yc

Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4B6ZycaBelU&feature=related
Justin

Love that pic, Anquetil and the eternal second racing up the Puy de Dome, but isn’t it from the ’64 TdF?
Bella

wonder how the local cafe would take it if the regular morning bunch stopped by and tried to raid it…
Bella

wonder how the local cafe would take it if the regular morning bunch stopped by and tried to raid it…
Danecrofts

back when men were men and weenies didn’t exist, absolute loved it, thank you
Danecrofts

back when men were men and weenies didn’t exist, absolute loved it, thank you
http://www.facebook.com/people/Tim-Chadwick/604555001 Tim Chadwick

Amazing truly inspiring stuff :)
http://www.facebook.com/people/Tim-Chadwick/604555001 Tim Chadwick

Amazing truly inspiring stuff :)
Laurence

Great footage. Thanks for sharing. I love Anquetil; he was such a rockstar (and a great cyclist). I wrote a bit about him recently here; http://www.theweeklycycle.com/2011/07/tour-legends-and-legends-of-tour-stage_03.html
JC

Good stuff
http://twitter.com/nicodonnell Nicholas O’Donnell

Love it!
Anonymous

Awesome. Its amazing how little somethings have changed throughout the ages..
Spencer_pankow

Amazing stuff….I think the guy in the Weils jersey may have bonked !!!
Spencer_pankow

sorry wrong jersey i meant Ignis
Phil

I’ve seen this before, but the difference in racing between then and now always startles me. I guess it was more of every man for himself back then, but there was always a top man – not so much of the Merckx-inspired team warfare where one team grinds everyone to a pulp.

There’s also the difference in how clear the roads were of traffic calming measures. Sure, as more people enter an area, more cars require calming, but man the roads back then looked better for racing than they did now (except the road surface of course).
Phil

I’ve seen this before, but the difference in racing between then and now always startles me. I guess it was more of every man for himself back then, but there was always a top man – not so much of the Merckx-inspired team warfare where one team grinds everyone to a pulp.

There’s also the difference in how clear the roads were of traffic calming measures. Sure, as more people enter an area, more cars require calming, but man the roads back then looked better for racing than they did now (except the road surface of course).
Phil

I’ve seen this before, but the difference in racing between then and now always startles me. I guess it was more of every man for himself back then, but there was always a top man – not so much of the Merckx-inspired team warfare where one team grinds everyone to a pulp.

There’s also the difference in how clear the roads were of traffic calming measures. Sure, as more people enter an area, more cars require calming, but man the roads back then looked better for racing than they did now (except the road surface of course).
http://twitter.com/mcleroult Martin Cléroult

Ils sont fous ces français !
http://twitter.com/mcleroult Martin Cléroult

Ils sont fous ces français !
Maitre Jack

Fantastique! Thanks for sharing. Malle’s film is the greatest Tour film of all for me, made by a ‘notable’ director – you can tell. A master craftsman at work.
Rickf

Seriously cool racing kit, fantastic classic bikes, real men pushing way beyond the ‘shut up legs’, and not a gel or skerrick of carbon fibre to be seen. Makes me wonder if ‘progress’ is not always what it’s cracked up to be…
http://twitter.com/alchemistbbc al barcheski jr

allez poupou!
roadiesean

“gel or skerrick of carbon fibre to be seen” – thats as may be, but there was more ampehatamines than you could shake a stick at, that is what happened to the Ignis guy, pedalling beyond life itself, quite horrific really. Pleased that we don’t see that anymore. But it really is a serious example of RULE 5, isn’t it ?
roadiesean

“gel or skerrick of carbon fibre to be seen” – thats as may be, but there was more ampehatamines than you could shake a stick at, that is what happened to the Ignis guy, pedalling beyond life itself, quite horrific really. Pleased that we don’t see that anymore. But it really is a serious example of RULE 5, isn’t it ?
The Campag Kid

Someone posted a link to this little gem back in July and it was great to watch it in the context of the the modern Tour. I really felt for the poor Ignis rider especially as once keeled over into a ditch just like he did! My problem wasn’t total exhaustion though, just a vicious cramp that made my left leg seize and I couldn’t get my foot out before I rolled to a halt.