The Race of Truth: film brings British time trialling to life

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Commissioned by Cycling Time Trials, the national governing body for road time trials, the film’s debut broadcast will be on Monday 1 July (directly after the live Stage 3 coverage of the TdF) at 4pm BST on British Eurosport 1

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· Alex Dowsett, Cornish & London based riders profiled in half hour documentary
· Celebration of the art of time trialling – the backbone of current British cycling success
· British Eurosport showing film during the Tour de France

Commissioned by Cycling Time Trials, the national governing body for road time trials, the film’s debut broadcast will be on Monday 1 July (directly after the live Stage 3 coverage of the TdF) at 4pm BST on British Eurosport 1. There will be a repeat at 8.30pm BST also on BES 1 and subsequent repeats throughout the Tour.

The film is a co-production between cycling production & PR agency Spokesmen Ltd and documentary maker Dan Edelstyn at Optimistic Productions. In it, we follow three riders and see how their families, work, race day rituals and races knit together. The riders were selected following submission of video diaries, and were chosen to represent a range of ages and stages of their lives and tt careers.

Michael Hutchinson, Irish & multiple TT champion and Executive Producer for CTT on the film, said “It’s no coincidence that all the British riders who’ve worn the Yellow Jersey in the Tour de France, from Simpson to Wiggins, started their racing careers with time trials. This is a timely and beautiful film about the most accessible, fascinating and personally rewarding part of cycle sport”.

Alex Dowsett, National TT Champion 2013 and one of the riders in our film said “If it wasn’t for the CTT’s time trial scene we have in the UK I certainly would not be able to have carved a career out of a sport I love. I really hope this documentary inspires the younger generation to have a go at a 10mile time trial like I did and encourages more people to simply get outside, get exercising and get on their bikes”.

The three riders we follow in the film are:

· Sandy Gourley – Cornish champion (Penzance Wheelers), fire fighter and father
· Caroline Harding – London based graphic designer (VC St Raphael /Waite Contracts /Hewitt Cycles)
· Alex Dowsett – fresh from his Giro stage win, National TT Champion (Movistar)

Sandy Gourley from Cornwall said “Time trialling is way of life, which, at times, involves the whole family. Working full time as a fire-fighter, a father and a husband is hectic but between us we are a team and with an all too small car and bucket loads of support I am able to race. It’s definitely a lifestyle, but it’s a lifestyle that is accessible to all and something I wanted to share in the making of this film”.

Caroline Harding of London said “I very much enjoyed being part of the programme, having a camera crew following me around town and racing was quite an experience. I really hope that this documentary encourages more people to give time trialling a go. It doesn’t need to be an expensive sport and it’s incredibly rewarding to people of all abilities.”

Lara Thornton of Spokesmen Ltd, which co-produced the film, said “from the outset this was never going to be a standard sports documentary. We wanted to create a beautiful film about the backbone of British racing success, telling the story of TT’ing itself but also the people and their efforts and how champions fit racing into their daily lives. We are delighted with the final result and very grateful to everyone who has been part of bringing it to British Eurosport.”

The film is accompanied by a new website to encourage new tt riders in to the sport: www.theraceoftruth.org.uk

 

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