This is part of a series of podcast reviews. I was going to review the Beyond the Peloton films later but Cervélo have just announced a new series of films for 2010, so here are my thoughts on their 2009 output.
Beyond The Peloton
Rather than an audio podcast, this is a collection of videos. Last year filmmaker Joseph Finkelman followed the Cervélo Test Team and recorded a fly-on-the wall documentary of the team’s ups and downs.
Released as several short films, it was well made and informative. Even knowing this has been produced to showcase the team’s sponsors, especially Cervélo’s hardware, you still get a good insight into the team and pro racing, with rider interviews and genuine scenes from inside the team bus. None more so than Carlos Sastre’s outpouring to team mates when the Tour de France didn’t go according to plan. Forget the helicopter shots, this is footage from inside the team car.
A three-chord soundtrack runs through a lot of the short films, it sounds like it’s straight out of a horror film, but that aside, I’ve found this compulsive viewing. It captures the inside details of a pro team and the glamour of the sport at the same time. Even if it’s meant to do this in order to sell bikes, I didn’t feel like I was getting the hard sell, although there are moments when the riders are clearly being told to praise their bikes.
New for 2010
You can review past films online and download them via iTunes but Finkelman is back for 2010 and is promising a new supply of films. Although for the moment, the content released so far seems far more skewed to product promotion but that’s understandable since there haven’t been enough big races to film.
It’s all here: http://www.cervelo.com/en_us/testteam/video-documentary/
Cycling Podcast Reviews Part I – Real Peloton
Cycling Podcast Reviews Part II – NY Velocity
Cycling Podcast Reviews Part III – cyclingnews.com
Cycling Podcast Reviews Part IV – The Velocast
Cycling Podcast Reviews Part V – The Fredcast
Cycling Podcast Reviews Part VI – RTL-L’Equipe
Cycling Podcast Reviews Part VII – Cervélo’s Beyond the Peloton
Cycling Podcast Reviews Part VIII – The Spokesmen
Cycling Podcast Reviews Part IX – Cyclocosm
Cycling Podcast Reviews Part X – cyclingnews.com, an update
Cycling Podcast Reviews Part XI – Cervélo’s Beyond the Peloton, an update
Cycling Podcast Reviews Part XII – The Bike Show – Resonance FM
Cycling Podcast Reviews Part XIII – An update on the previous reviews
I discovered these films in the winter and really enjoyed them, you can see the inside workings of the team. I really like Van Poppel and his attitude.