La Course En Tête

Samen met Eddy Merckx won ik alle klassiekers die er te winnen waren. Ik Parijs-Tours en hij al de rest – Noël Vantyghem.

Unfortunately, no film about Noël Vantyghem has been made, although Le Vélo De Ghislain Lambert pays a great hommage to les petites coureurs. That’s why I’ve chosen Joël Santoni’s documentary La Course En Tête (1974) about Eddy Merckx to celebrate this weekend’s edition of Paris-Tours.

La Course en Tête, or Merckx’s 1973 season set to wacky medieval music, tells about of the daily routine of Eddy, Claudine, Axel, and Sabrina. While Claudine pays a visit to the boucherie, Eddy puts in his kilometers behind the stayer. Furthermore, La Course gives a look at a typical racing day in a Grand Tour in a similar way as Pour Un Maillot Jaune does. Other highlights are Eddy’s medications and his hour record.

Beautifully set in the 70s, La Course has plenty of retro hallmarks such as very short shorts, wool jerseys, bicycle caps, sideburns, Bic, Peugeot, Molteni, Kas, Bianchi, Brooklyn, Felice Gimondi, Freddy Maertens, and Luis Ocaña. And if I’m not mistaken, we see Ernesto Colnago prepare Eddy’s bike. Which makes me always puzzle why Eddy’s bikes from that era always have been branded under his own name. Note that Merckx opened his frame building shop in 1980 and most of the bikes he rode in the period before were build by fine italian craftsmans such as Ugo De Rosa or Ernesto Colnago. We even see Eddy apply a decal on what is suggested as his intended bike for his finest hour.

Wat had u willen worden?
- Ik voel me goed, ik wil niemand anders zijn. En was ik toch iemand anders geweest, dan toch liefst ‘n sportman.
Zoals?
- Een bekende voetballer. Misschien Cruijf of Pelé.
En als wielrenner?
- Mezelf.

Must-see material for any lycra aficionado. See you out there.

Demonoid | Eddy on rollers