Hi, everyone, I got my Road To Roubaix dvd yesterday and had to come here and gush wildly about it!  I don't want to spoil it for anyone, but had to put a warning in the title, in case there are some people that don't want to know anything about it before they buy it. 

Now, let me continue:  buy it, buy it , buy it.

Per our previous discussion about this documentary in last Friday's "Housekeeping" thread, watch the trailer at www. masterlinkfilms.com .  You can buy it from this site, too.  There are reviews there, as well, and under the Cycling Weekly review there is even a UK website address where you can buy the movie on the other side of the pond. 

From what I can gather, I think this film started out as a Discovery Channel-produced piece about George Hincapie's journey to the '07 PR race, but was derailed by his wrist injury at the TofCA that year.  It then morphed into a project about the race, & what it means to the racers and cycling fans everywhere.

A few comments: 

In case you were worried that this was a pro-Lance vehicle, fear not:  the short LA interview in the trailer is the only LA in the film, no worries. 

Rider interviews:  Boonen, Van Heswijk, Van Der Flecha, Cancellara, O'Grady, Sean Kelly, Benna, Ballan, Steegmans, Levi and Basso (remnants of the early interviews of Team Discovery, I assume?) and Van Petegem.

Lots of insightful commentary from Johnny Green about the history of the race (love his book Push Yourself Just A Little Bit More.)

There are mechanic interviews, footage of pre-race training rides, race-day sign-in activity, then coverage of the actual race, and the post-race goings-on at the velodrome.  Amazing shower scenes (v. nicely done.) Haunting, bass-driven music.  Crowd scenes, kids riding the cobbles, oh, it is a thing of beauty for any bike race fan.

The still photgraphy of the current riders is masterful, and there are a few photos that just take your breath away (Backstedt, Brard, Flecha in the shower, Hincapie, oh, you will see what I mean when you watch the movie - they are simply outstanding.)

More later, after more people have seen it.  I have a couple of nits to pick, nothing too serious.  But again, I say:   buy it.  Watch it, over and over.  It is almost as good as Hell On Wheels, which is quite a compliment, indeed :-)