The Bike of Ghislain Lambert
Benoit Poelvoord
Burlesque and moving comedy, still appreciated today by cyclists.
In early 2000, Benoît Poelvoorde was already well known in the small world of cinema. He left his mark with the slap It happened near you and then chained the feature films such as Lucas Belvaux’s Pour rire, Les Randonneurs by Philippe Harel and Les convoyeurs attendent by Benoît Mariage.
It was at this time that an ambitious project was born in Harel’s mind:
to recreate in a film the cycling races of the 1970s. His hero? A Belgian cyclist, born on the same day as Eddy Merckx, but who will forever remain the second knife of the national champion. This role, he proposes it to the Belgian actor who also co-signs the script. It is the beginning of the adventure The Bike of Ghislain Lambert.
Ambition and big budget
Evoking all the cycling of the 70s requires some means. With an 11 million euro budget, the Franco-Belgian feature film is a major production. We have to reconstruct the races, which involves finding vintage bikes but also swimsuits. For the place, the production takes place in France (notably at Mont Ventoux), but also in Belgium (Namur, Jemeppe-sur-Sambre, Hainaut).
To ensure the role, Benoît Poelvoorde follows an intensive training. He explained this preparation to the newspaper L'Avenir: "For weeks, I went to learn how to stand on a bike like a pro cyclist and ride in the peloton with seasoned guys of the relentless genre. I got a taste of it. At one point, I thought I was in good shape and I had a little attack… I quickly regretted it! I was passed and dropped in the next minute. You have to know that at the Tour de France, even the last one in the general classification is a bomb!".
Humour and doping
Thanks to the comic, Ghislain Lambert’s Bike evokes doping with lightness. This is something that has always existed, since the creation of the races, confided Philippe Harel to France 2. When we see the reports of Albert London on Le Tour de France, when he interviews the riders to ask them what they are doing, they show them all the products, cocaine...".
A point of view that didn’t necessarily appeal to everyone, although the cyclists invited to the film’s preview were quite satisfied and impressed by the veracity of the film. They really had to be with good people in the cycling world to give them all these ideas, and even the aftershocks it was something quite real," said former world champion Laurent Brochard at the release of the AP in 2001.
On the casting side, the Belgian actor gives the line to José Garcia and Daniel Ceccaldi. Funny and touching, the fate of this anonymous cyclist who dreams of glory will probably not leave you indifferent... whether you are a cycling fan or not.
.jpg)