环法万岁 Vive le tour

Finally released with a copyright date of 1976, this film shows the much earlier 1961-1962 Tour de France races. An early project of Louis Malle who only later would become known as a major International film director. This "Essay" comes complete with a voice-over narration - dubbed into English in this version.

Some commercial sponsor vehicles were almost transformed into parade floats with large figures promoting their products mounted on the roof tops. This 18 minutes of footage mainly reveals some of the seldom seen drama of the race.

Riders grab bulging musettes at the food station stops along the routes. Lower rank team racers also dash into roadside cafés to stock up on food and anything at all which they can carry off to drink including glass bottles of wine and beer stuffed into their 3 rear jersey pockets or even tuckes into the backs of the jersey necks. Food and drink is even seen shared between riders of opposing teams along the road! Many riders even stop to fill water bottles from public fountains and all are happy to be doused with cool water by fans from buckets or hoses or at roadside fountains... Inevitably, riders stop to urinate by the roadside or even from their saddle while a teammate riding alongside helps to push that bike along.

Riders talk like mad to reporters when they stop, and all continually complain about their pain which is increasing daily... Reporters race over to phone "cabins" - tiny sheltered hooded tabletop booths where they can sit to call in their reports. Others hammer away at paper in their portable manual typewriters to compose their news copy...

Ambulances carry off riders to awaiting helicopters after a serious crash or staff in team support cars even reach out to bandage messy head wounds on some riders with heads covered with blood while they continue riding after a crash... The racers continue to deny the charges of amphetamine use... One rider is shown as he refuses to abandon although he is past exhaustion - he collapses falling over with his bike repeatedly at the roadside until finally hauled off, unconscious.

Racers climb slowly up sections of the gravel paved Alps... some riders still carry extra spare tires slung over their shoulders.... Center-pull brakes squeal noisily along the sharp turns in the misty muddy gravel roads during dangerous mountain descents.

Jacques Anquetil is seen riding for the St.Raphael-Helyett team and other now legendary team names are easily identified on the bright wool jerseys (Mercier-Hutchinson, Pelforth-Sauvage-Lejeune, Legnano-Pirelli, Peugeot, Philco, Leroux-Gitane, Faema-Flandria, Weil＇s etc.). The Peugeot team riders still wear blue & yellow jerseys... and absolutely nobody ever wears a helmet.