Wheel Heroes?
Marko1962
Posts: 320
Did anyone see it on ITV4 wed evening? I missed it....
‘WHEEL HEROES’ – GEOFF THOMAS IN ITV4 DOCUMENTARY
Leukaemia survivor and former footballer, Geoff Thomas, is to feature in an hour-long documentary on ITV4 this Tuesday, 21 July (2000 hrs). The programme follows Thomas leading four fellow cancer survivors and his former team-mate, England and Arsenal striker Ian Wright, on the gruelling 3,500km Tour de France route in 2007.
To be screened as part of ITV4’s ‘No Limits’ series around the coverage of this year’s Tour de France and produced by Ridley Scott Films, the documentary charts the inspirational journey made by five men who wanted to push themselves to the limit after beating various forms of cancer.
The programme celebrates their endurance, their triumph over illness and their sheer determination to conquer the physical and emotional challenges of both the Tour and their own experience of a disease that affects one in three people in the UK and kills eight million worldwide every year.
This is a documentary about personal courage, the camaraderie of blokes bonding out on their bikes, shared heroism in beating cancer and completing one of sport’s most testing challenges. It’s also funny – a group of blokes cycling 3,500km has its moments.
It is a reality show with a twist – the reality for these men is that they all looked death in the face and chose life.
THE CYCLISTS
Geoff Thomas - ex-footballer, survived leukaemia with a bone marrow transplant.
Ian Wright - ex-footballer rides the first two stages by eating crushed up chocolate fingers.
Phil Bullas - accountant from Solihull, West Midlands, had non-Hodgkins lymphona.
Dave Granger - a cabinet-maker from Evesham, Worcestershire completes the Tour on bowls of custard - he can’t eat anything else - he’s had throat cancer.
Mike Grisenthwaite - Director of Cyclists Fighting Cancer from Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire who also has survived non-Hodgkins lymphoma.
Steve Timmins - design draughtsman from Wolverhampton - a bowel cancer survivor.
Support riders: Ian Whittell, Pete Slater, Dan Ellmore
THE JOURNEY
21 stages over 23 days – 21 mountains – 4 countries – 12 hours in the saddle – 7,000 calories per day – but no road closures or police escort!
The film starts with the Le Grand Depart weekend. The city prologue and London to Canterbury. On home turf, in high spirits and a blaze of publicity, the boys board the ferry.
Reality kicks in – in Belgium. Rain, strong headwind, grey skies. Realisation dawns of tough times ahead. Ian Wright struggles to keep up. He hangs onto the support Land Rover when it gets too much. After a nasty fall and a near collision with a truck, he’s forced to provide ‘honest’ commentary from the Land Rover instead: “Haven’t trained hard enough. It’s my own fault! But I want people to see how much this hurt me and appreciate just how hard it is,” says Wright.
He is clearly blown away by the cancer survivors’ stories – in awe of their sheer guts – at times rendering him speechless, but for the most part Ian was on vintage form, his banter helped sooth riders’ pain.
The juxtaposition of drama and comedy is a feature of the film – as well as the determination: “When you’re battling against cancer it really broadens your limits,” explains Thomas.
Les Grandes Alpes demonstrate this - the team approach with trepidation and highlights the irony that cancer is a mountain they have to climb every day. The focus is on Mike Grisenthwaite: “I’m scared today.” He hauls his huge frame up the mountains, even though his heart’s been weakened by chemotherapy. “If the Tour de France was settled on riders’ ability to suffer in the saddle, then Mike would be in the yellow jersey every day,” says Wright.
They cycle on, surviving on mashed bananas and custard, rice pudding, jelly babies, chocolate and Factor 50 sunscreen. Nothing was off limits to the crew – tears and tantrums, applying ‘Friction Zone’ for the chafing, falls, crashes, Thomas’ emergency trip to hospital – all with a backdrop of magnificent scenery, snow-topped peaks to fields of sunflowers.
The Pyrenees – dramatic 14 hours in the saddle and an 11pm start in pitch black and dense fog. The team finally race down the Champs-Elysees in Paris in yellow jerseys to an emotional reunion with family and friends. Humbling to witness:
“I felt I needed to do something huge. To prove to myself that I could get on with things, without the disease controlling my life. I want to do everything in my power to raise money for clinical research so that we can create a situation where everyone has the chance to recover,” says Thomas.
EDIT
However if you did miss it you can watch it here:
http://www.itv.com/ITVPlayer/Video/default.html?ViewType=5&Filter=45817
‘WHEEL HEROES’ – GEOFF THOMAS IN ITV4 DOCUMENTARY
Leukaemia survivor and former footballer, Geoff Thomas, is to feature in an hour-long documentary on ITV4 this Tuesday, 21 July (2000 hrs). The programme follows Thomas leading four fellow cancer survivors and his former team-mate, England and Arsenal striker Ian Wright, on the gruelling 3,500km Tour de France route in 2007.
To be screened as part of ITV4’s ‘No Limits’ series around the coverage of this year’s Tour de France and produced by Ridley Scott Films, the documentary charts the inspirational journey made by five men who wanted to push themselves to the limit after beating various forms of cancer.
The programme celebrates their endurance, their triumph over illness and their sheer determination to conquer the physical and emotional challenges of both the Tour and their own experience of a disease that affects one in three people in the UK and kills eight million worldwide every year.
This is a documentary about personal courage, the camaraderie of blokes bonding out on their bikes, shared heroism in beating cancer and completing one of sport’s most testing challenges. It’s also funny – a group of blokes cycling 3,500km has its moments.
It is a reality show with a twist – the reality for these men is that they all looked death in the face and chose life.
THE CYCLISTS
Geoff Thomas - ex-footballer, survived leukaemia with a bone marrow transplant.
Ian Wright - ex-footballer rides the first two stages by eating crushed up chocolate fingers.
Phil Bullas - accountant from Solihull, West Midlands, had non-Hodgkins lymphona.
Dave Granger - a cabinet-maker from Evesham, Worcestershire completes the Tour on bowls of custard - he can’t eat anything else - he’s had throat cancer.
Mike Grisenthwaite - Director of Cyclists Fighting Cancer from Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire who also has survived non-Hodgkins lymphoma.
Steve Timmins - design draughtsman from Wolverhampton - a bowel cancer survivor.
Support riders: Ian Whittell, Pete Slater, Dan Ellmore
THE JOURNEY
21 stages over 23 days – 21 mountains – 4 countries – 12 hours in the saddle – 7,000 calories per day – but no road closures or police escort!
The film starts with the Le Grand Depart weekend. The city prologue and London to Canterbury. On home turf, in high spirits and a blaze of publicity, the boys board the ferry.
Reality kicks in – in Belgium. Rain, strong headwind, grey skies. Realisation dawns of tough times ahead. Ian Wright struggles to keep up. He hangs onto the support Land Rover when it gets too much. After a nasty fall and a near collision with a truck, he’s forced to provide ‘honest’ commentary from the Land Rover instead: “Haven’t trained hard enough. It’s my own fault! But I want people to see how much this hurt me and appreciate just how hard it is,” says Wright.
He is clearly blown away by the cancer survivors’ stories – in awe of their sheer guts – at times rendering him speechless, but for the most part Ian was on vintage form, his banter helped sooth riders’ pain.
The juxtaposition of drama and comedy is a feature of the film – as well as the determination: “When you’re battling against cancer it really broadens your limits,” explains Thomas.
Les Grandes Alpes demonstrate this - the team approach with trepidation and highlights the irony that cancer is a mountain they have to climb every day. The focus is on Mike Grisenthwaite: “I’m scared today.” He hauls his huge frame up the mountains, even though his heart’s been weakened by chemotherapy. “If the Tour de France was settled on riders’ ability to suffer in the saddle, then Mike would be in the yellow jersey every day,” says Wright.
They cycle on, surviving on mashed bananas and custard, rice pudding, jelly babies, chocolate and Factor 50 sunscreen. Nothing was off limits to the crew – tears and tantrums, applying ‘Friction Zone’ for the chafing, falls, crashes, Thomas’ emergency trip to hospital – all with a backdrop of magnificent scenery, snow-topped peaks to fields of sunflowers.
The Pyrenees – dramatic 14 hours in the saddle and an 11pm start in pitch black and dense fog. The team finally race down the Champs-Elysees in Paris in yellow jerseys to an emotional reunion with family and friends. Humbling to witness:
“I felt I needed to do something huge. To prove to myself that I could get on with things, without the disease controlling my life. I want to do everything in my power to raise money for clinical research so that we can create a situation where everyone has the chance to recover,” says Thomas.
EDIT
However if you did miss it you can watch it here:
http://www.itv.com/ITVPlayer/Video/default.html?ViewType=5&Filter=45817
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Comments
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Now why is it that when I searched for it on the ITV4 site it came up with nothing. I tried to record that to DVD last night but either my Brother has deleted it or the disc has died. Technology is a PITA. :roll:0
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I feel that it did not really capture what suffering and hardship they must have gone through to complete each stage. These men were not lifelong cyclist and some had been in hospital only 6 months before. Most stages must have taken them at least 12 hours but the time in the saddle was never given and to be able keep going on such restricted diet is incredible. They were real heroes and the film did not do them full justice.0
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It was quite emotional seeing them at the end, but you're right that a lot of it was about Geoff and his "mission" to raise money, and didn't really tell the stories of the other men who took part. I'd have liked to have known each of their stories a bit better. You're right that there wasn't much information on exactly where they went, how long it took, what they ate etc, but I'm not really much of a one for facts anyway and perhaps the programme makers thought that the general non-cycling public (who may have been the target audience) wouldn't understand or care about altitude gain, miles ridden, calories consumed etc - although perhaps this was doing joe public a disservice. Anyway, the scenery was lovely! I've rideen over most of those climbs so it was nice to see them again... as were yesterdays and Tuesdays tour stages for the same reason - we were going "Ooh, we went up there!" and "Aw, they should have stopped at that excellent cake shop in Beaufort" etc etc.
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Marko1962 wrote:Did anyone see it on ITV4 wed evening? I missed it....
‘...
THE CYCLISTS
...
Ian Wright - ex-footballer rides the first two stages by eating crushed up chocolate fingers.
....
...]
He'd be better riding by turning the pedals whilst holding onto the handlebars with his hands :oops: :oops: :oops:Want to know the Spen666 behind the posts?
Then read MY BLOG @ http://www.pebennett.com
Twittering @spen_6660 -
downfader wrote:Now why is it that when I searched for it on the ITV4 site it came up with nothing. I tried to record that to DVD last night but either my Brother has deleted it or the disc has died. Technology is a PITA. :roll:
Yeh, I looked for it last night, doesn't seem to be on there (unless anyone know different?).Pictures are better than words because some words are big and hard to understand.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/34335188@N07/3336802663/0 -
Robmanic1 wrote:downfader wrote:Now why is it that when I searched for it on the ITV4 site it came up with nothing. I tried to record that to DVD last night but either my Brother has deleted it or the disc has died. Technology is a PITA. :roll:
Yeh, I looked for it last night, doesn't seem to be on there (unless anyone know different?).
The link provided by Marko does work Rob, I think you got bored by all of the advertisements before the programme starts, they are long enough to put the kettle on :evil:0 -
I found it on disc now. I must have taken the thing out half asleep to record Charlie Brooker after. :oops:
The link does work too. Agree on the ads. Also a PITA.0
