Rough Diamond (2022)

Lance

A personal examination of the rise and fall of Lance Armstrong.

Won't Back Down

From his humble beginnings in his hometown of Sheffield, England, Steve Peat has established himself as one of the worlds most iconic cyclists. Peaty has been competing at the top level in his chosen sport of downhill mountain bike racing for the past 23 years, longer than the lifetime of many of his current competitors. Through 20 years of archival footage and photos and intimate interviews with Steve, his family, close friends and competitors, Won’t Back Down takes viewers on a captivating tour of the history of the sport of downhill mountain bike racing and offers a never-before-seen view into the life and legacy of this enduring icon.

Fat Chance

Fat Chance is a grassroots Australian story of physical conquest that will change the way you feed your family forever. This new documentary follows Warren Hepsworth who sets out to ride a pushbike from Perth to Melbourne on a low-carb, high-fat diet. You’ll see Warren’s preparation for the ride as well as highlights and lowlights from the journey, and the diet change. The movie attempts to debunk the notion that athletes have to carb load and that you can’t get your energy from fat. In the process we learn that much of what we’ve been told about a healthy diet is wrong.

Canada Vertical

After years of preparation, a team of highly motivated Quebeckers set out on one of the longest wilderness expeditions ever documented. Stage one involves skiing in relentless polar conditions from Ellesmere Island to the Northwest Passage where the challenge was reaching the mainland. Cue canoes for a 2000km journey across Nunavut and NWT until they reach the first dirt road available where bikes are waiting to be pedalled 4000km to Point Pelee in Ontario.

Stop at Nothing: The Lance Armstrong Story

A portrait of the man behind the greatest fraud in sporting history. Lance Armstrong enriched himself by cheating his fans, his sport and the truth. But the former friends whose lives and careers he destroyed would finally bring him down.

A Sunday in Hell

A chronology of the 1976 Paris-Roubaix bicycle race from the perspective of participants, organizers and spectators.

All For One

United by their renegade spirit and a determination to win against substantial odds, these riders take on the international circuit. The film offers unique insights into the first five years of their journey, bearing witness to the ethos of the team as embodied by all – from the strongest to most embattled members. Out of a culture that embraces a deeply human approach to sport, unlikely champions are born, and seemingly improbable team and personal goals are achieved.

Beyond Limits

A compelling British documentary following ten amateur athletes as they train for and compete in Ironman 70.3 Swansea. With themes of resilience, inclusion, and mental strength, the film is directed by Raymond Mouzon and edited by 18-year-old autistic filmmaker Sean Smith.

60 Cycles

On your marks. Follow cyclists from 13 countries as they cover 2.400 km of Gaspé countryside in 12 days-a course longer than those of Italy, Belgium or Spain. The long shots of curving landscape and open road are set to a mesmerizing soundtrack in this documentary, and the results are spellbinding.

Phil Liggett: The Voice of Cycling

A fascinating portrait of cycling royalty, the prince of the peloton, the lord of the lycra-clad. Amateur racer turned broadcaster, Phil Liggett has covered forty-seven Tours de France and fifteen Olympic Games, calling every triumph, tragedy and scandal with his inimitable wit and poetry.

Enter the Slipstream

Follows the Education First (EF) Cycling Team as they navigate a turbulent 2020 season through the Tour de France, telling the individual stories of the riders, from Colombian star Rigo Urán to rising up-and-comers and veteran teammates.

Vive Le Tour

A short documentary about the 1962 Tour-de-France. Topics covered include: crowds of people and motorcycles, drinking raids and feeding, pileups, doping, "the charge," and the mountain stages.

Breakaway Femmes

The untold story of the halcyon era of women's professional cycling. For six glorious years during the 1980s, the Tour de France held a women's race alongside the men's race. These women raced over the same cobblestones, conquered the same mountains, and were cheered by the same throng of adoring crowds as the men.

Carnikavas kalnu karalis

A documentary about Latvian professional road racing cyclist Toms Skujiņš.

La Route de l'Audace

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MAMIL

During the week, they are white-collar professionals with responsible jobs, families and mortgages. Come the weekend, they transform into Lycra-clad super heroes; road warriors on expensive carbon framed bikes traveling in packs and competing with other males for dominance in the group. MAMIL is a feature length documentary that dares to enter this secret world of middle-aged men to uncover the reasons they take to the road.

Afghan Cycles

"Afghan Cycles" is a feature documentary about a generation of Afghan women who are pedaling their own revolution, aggressively challenging gender and cultural barriers using the bicycle as a vehicle for freedom, empowerment and social change.

The Fast Lane

Tulsa Tough is one of the hardest, fastest, most prestigious criterium races in the United States of America. This high-octane, action packed film follows the Miami Blazers, and hears from sprinter and fast rising talent Dante Young, as they go toe-to-toe with the likes of L39ION OF LOS ANGELES on the downtown streets of Tulsa. It’s NASCAR meets bike racing as we see the best criterium racers in the world battle for supremacy.

Legend Of The Rainbow Jersey

The Rainbow Jersey is the crowning achievement of any cyclist’s career, proof that they are the very best in the world. GCN stats guru Cillian Kelly heads to Belgium in a lighthearted jaunt to chat to ex pros, pros and journalists about how the Rainbow Jersey undoubtedly brings with it greatness, but also the pressure to live up to the win. In 'Legend of the Rainbow Jersey’, Cillian uses his statistical nouse as he crunches the numbers and speaks with a selection of former world champions including Michal Kwiatkowski, Rui Costa, Philippe Gilbert and Johan Museeuw about riders wins and losses after winning this famous jersey. Finally, Cillian watches from the roadside as current world champions Remco Evenepoel and Annemiek van Vleuten take on the Ardennes hills in Liege-Bastogne-Liege. Will they crown their season as world champions by winning in rainbows? Or will the jersey weigh heavy on their shoulders?

Backpedal

An urban documentary illuminating the struggles of pedestrians, bike and skateboard commuters in Charleston, SC experience on a daily basis.

1969 - Following Merckx

1969. July the 15th. Stage 17 of the Tour de France. A brutal stage from Luchon to Mourenx covering four of the toughest mountains in the Pyrenees. On this fateful day, Eddy Merckx catapulted himself into the history books with one of the greatest solo breakaways the sport has ever seen. Fast forward over half a century, and GCN’s Simon Richardson is in the Pyrenees to pay tribute to The Cannibal by recreating his ride. To make the 220km epic even more challenging, Si will do it aboard his 1969 spec Faema team bike and wearing their iconic red and white jersey. Eddy Merckx made this ride look easy, but will Si even make it to the finish line?

Trial by Giro

Canyon//SRAM racing takes on one of the biggest races on the women’s calendar: the Giro Donne. The GCN+ cameras go behind-the-scenes to capture every single moment. With exclusive access to the team, including established stars and rising talents like Chloé Dygert, Tiffany Cromwell, and Antonia Niedermaier, this fly-on-the-wall documentary pulls back the curtain on how one of the best teams in the business navigates the emotional and physical rollercoaster of a truly dramatic race. With ex-pros Magnus Bäckstedt and Dani Christmas in the team car, expectations are for big performances and big wins. But, with treacherous conditions and big crashes across nine brutal stages, how does the team stay ahead of the competition and deliver results?

Unbound

GCN presenter and ex-professional cyclist Conor Dunne heads to Midwest America to take on the infamous UNBOUND 200. Alongside 100 pro riders and more than 1000 amateurs, this is the biggest gravel race in the world. Across 330 km of unforgiving Kansas landscape, Conor must battle tyre-slashing flint, thick mud, and crippling heat exhaustion in a fight to make it to the finish. Conor is joined by former World Tour road pros Nathan Haas and Larry Warbasse, up-and coming gravel racer Anna Yamauchi, and 2022 Unbound champion Ivar Slik in this up close and personal, no-holds barred look at what it takes to survive this brutal event.

Alpe d’Huez

A mountain so legendary it’s known simply as “The Alpe”, with its unmistakable 21 hairpins it’s cycling’s most famous climb. Not the steepest, or the hardest, but when the Tour de France hits Alpe d’Huez, drama is guaranteed. It’s featured more than thirty times and is eagerly awaited by hordes of fans lining the route. Crowds are estimated to have swelled to over a million and on one of the sport’s most recognisable bends all of Holland seems to camp out; the iconic Dutch Corner. Conor is joined by ex-pro Fränk Schleck who won on the mountain in 2006. His victory cemented his place at cycling’s top table, and Fränk’s name is now immortalised on hairpin eighteen, alongside double stage winner, Hennie Kuiper, who also shares his memories of the mythical mountain.

Rivals: Contador vs Schleck

Andy Schleck & Alberto Contador. A pro cycling rivalry that ignited the Tour de France in 2009 and 2010. The fiery Spaniard and the level headed Luxembourger only went toe to toe at the Tour on a few occasions; but their rivalry has gone down in history as one of the most explosive, entertaining, and controversial the sport has ever seen. Dan Lloyd is joined in the studio by Nicolas Roche and William Fotheringham to dig into what made this rivalry so compelling. They’ll re-live epic battles, and debate who is the greatest.

Himalayas

Simon Richardson and James Lowsley-Williams head to the Himalayas on a quest to discover Nepal’s mysterious ‘Forbidden Kingdom’, the remote mountaintop city of Lo Manthang. Breath-taking views, lung-busting climbs, and incredible encounters with locals; Si and James are in for an unmissable gravel bike adventure! Their once-in-a-lifetime expedition begins in the chaotic streets of Kathmandu before embarking on a gruelling five-day ride up the ancient trade route that forges a path between Nepal and Tibet. Their epic ride sees them dicing with kamikaze trucks, enduring freezing rainstorms, taking a 228m bungee jump, and even a heroic attempt to beat a Himalayan KOM.

Portrait des Radsportlers, Louis Pfenninger

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Breaking Through: The Rise of African Cycling

Biniam Girmay’s recent successes have shown that African cycling is on the up, ready at last to follow athletics and football into the big time. But why has it taken so long, and what’s needed to take it all the way? Set against the beauty and battles of the Tour du Rwanda, we explore the past, present and future of riders from Eritrea, South Africa, Rwanda and more, meeting Girmay and the rising stars hot on his heels, as well as the people passionate about giving these riders the opportunities they deserve. This is the story of the next great continent in cycling - Africa.

Strength and Honour: Cycling Canada Coast to Coast

What could a person gain by cycling across Canada? The cyclists on this trek know nothing about cycling. It is clear from the start that a lot of learning will take place throughout the seven-week journey this summer. The elements of wind, sun, spandex and road construction tame the wildest spirits on the team. Everyone has a wall to go through, but how badly does each one want to smash through it. Does the fear of what lies on the other side prevent someone from finishing the trip?

WW1 - War on Two Wheels

A fascinating insight into the role of the bicycle in the First World War - from reconnaissance to transporting ammunition, historian and cycling enthusiast Jeremy Banning explores stories from the battlefield. Ollie Bridgewood discovers the role cycle scouts played in the Army Cycling Corp and rides the original bikes used in the conflict. Mark Beaumont meets the grandson of a WW1 soldier who rode for the Highland Cyclist Battalion and survived brutal combat on the front line.

Tommy Godwin: The Hardest Year

In 1939, driven by a desire for fame and fortune English amateur Tommy Godwin cycled a world record 75,065 miles in one year setting out from home each day through bitter winters and the blackouts of World War Two. He became the fastest person to cycle 100,000 miles in just 500 days. After this epic feat of endurance, Tommy had to learn to walk again and uncurl his hands! The madcap record has only been attempted by a handful of determined souls and Tommy’s record stood for 76 years making it one of the greatest, but also most overlooked sporting achievements. Ultra endurance athlete and round the world cycling record holder Mark Beaumont is on a mission to shine a light on Tommy’s ride. He delves deeper into Tommy’s story and finds out if he has the physical and mental stamina to take on Godwin’s record.

Superteams: La Vie Claire

In the mid-1980s, one team dominated the cycling headlines: La Vie Claire. Despite a ferocious internal power struggle between two of the sport’s biggest stars, they racked up more than 100 wins. Wearing their iconic Mondrian jersey, Bernard Hinault and Greg LeMond won two of the most infamous Tour de France victories of all time. Bankrolled by the controversial businessman, Bernard Tapie, La Vie Claire rewrote the rulebook on both bike racing and fashion. Dan Lloyd is joined by special guests Pippa York and William Fotheringham to discuss how the team turned a recipe for disaster into a period of complete dominance.

The Mountains That Weren’t There

A documentary film that takes the viewer to the great stages of the sport of cycling. Estonians Tanel Kangert and Rein Taaramäe are the same age and both from the small village of Vändra. They are under the microscope as they both cycle in the top-level Astana Pro Team.

Inside My Borders - Abruzzo e Basilicata Bike'n Trek

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Where the Trail Ends

"Where the Trail Ends..." is a film following the worlds' top freeride mountain bikers as they search for un-ridden terrain around the globe, ultimately shaping the future of big mountain freeriding. This unparalleled story documents man's challenge of mother nature and himself showcased through a cast of colorful characters. This is the most progressive and ambitious mountain biking ever attempted resulting in an entertainment adventure unlike anything experienced before.

Ice & Palms

The two friends have traveled the world for many mountainous adventures, but while skiing in distant locations this idea grew in their minds: a ski expedition that starts right on their own doorsteps. Six weeks, 1.800 km, 35.000 vertical meters and a dream come true. After pedaling and skiing through Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy and France, they reached the beach in Nice in early June 2018. The movie premiered at St. Anton Filmfest in August 2018.

The Weight of The Peloton

Does the pro peloton have a problem with food? Are cyclists eating enough to be healthy? Former pro cyclist and GCN presenter Conor Dunne investigates how the pursuit of low weight has been the fixation of professional riders for generations. He finds out if his own weight loss programme has caused lasting damage, and asks if pro teams are now changing their approach to weight management Conor heads to Italy to meet former teammate Davide Cimolai to hear how his weight obsession ruined his early years. He also hears from Gabz Cullaigh whose recent experience at the top of the sport presents evidence that despite advances in coaching and science-led meal plans, under-eating is still a problem.

Tigersprung

An animated short documentary about Ernst Berliner, a Jewish track cycling manager from Cologne and his quest to launch a post-war criminal investigation into the death of his friend Albert Richter, a former amateur track cycling world champion who was killed by the Gestapo in 1940.

Legend: Fabian Cancellara

Fabian Cancellara is one of the greatest Classics riders ever, with three Tour of Flanders wins and three editions of Paris-Roubaix to his name. He also won the world time trial championships four times and took eight stage victories at the Tour de France, wearing the yellow jersey for a total of 29 days. He hung up his wheels in 2016, after claiming his second Olympic gold medal. Dan Lloyd is in Switzerland to go cross country skiing and find out more about the lesser-known Swiss version of the legend of Spartacus.

Galashiels and Braw Lads' Gathering

A big day in the Scottish Borders is captured with astonishing clarity in this remarkable film commissioned by the local cinema.

Bicyclist

Francis Doublier does bicycle tricks in the street.

No Limits: The Story of Leah Goldstein

The life of Leah Goldstein, a champion kickboxer, undercover operative, and endurance cyclist, is explored in this feature documentary as she attempts to break the record in the world’s most intense bicycle race, the Race Across America.

The King and Beers - A Gravel Epic in Vermont

Ex-pro cyclist, Ted King has a lot of love for his home state of Vermont. With its rolling landscapes, rugged gravel roads and its fantastic craft beer scene, he was never unhappy to return home after his time spent in pelotons around the world. As beer and bike enthusiasts, Ted and elite road and CX racer Regina Legge, are taking their gravel bikes down the road less travelled, touring brewery to brewery and learning what puts Vermont’s craft beer ahead of the bunch. As they head north to south, we'll take in some of Vermont's challenging climbs and learn a thing or two about beer along the way.

Nico Valsesia - From zero to Monviso

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Lost Races: Bordeaux-Paris

Bordeaux-Paris was the best bike race you’ve never heard of: a midnight start, 550km-long, and ridden behind motorised ‘dernys’, with winners including Jacques Anquetil and Tom Simpson. More than thirty years since Bordeaux-Paris was last raced, pro cyclists Mitch Docker and Sam Bewley are aiming to recreate the infamous 1965 edition. How will they fare at the ‘Derby of the Road’?