While I was studying for my film studies A-levels I watched a few films by oddball Danish director, Lars von Trier. One of the films watched was a documentary called The Five Obstructions in which von Trier bosses around fellow (but less weird) Danish director Jorgen Leth into remaking his first short film, the perfect man, five times but with a few obstacles thrown in for each take made.

The film itself was entertaining but Leth is best known in the cycling world for his documentary film, A Sunday in Hell, about the 1976 Paris-Roubaix. The film vividly shows the likes of Eddy Merckx, Roger de Vlaeminck and Francesco Moser in their pomp and the brutality of the event itself. It is and probably will be the best film made about professional cycling.

But we’re not going to show you that! Instead we will show you a clip from The Greatest Show on Earth about Merckx and his 1974 Giro d’Italia win. The film followed the race from its start in the Vatican City, where they were blessed by the Pope, to Merckx’s duel with Gianbattista Baronchelli and Felice Gimondi where the winning margin was only 12 seconds. It is a fascinating insight into a completely different era of cycling.  

We can’t show you the whole film but take a look at this clip. In it you’ll see a rider, who has just raided a café on the stage route for soft drinks, try to open a bottle using his handlebar stem before giving up and using his mouth, all the time while cycling along with the rest of the peloton. Would you see the pro’s doing that these days?