I don't know if I've ever let this on to anyone here, but my vocation is screenwriting. All right, it's not a paying job (not yet anyway), but it's something I plan to pursue with every fiber of my being, and something I know I can do and do well. Along with about half a dozen completed drafts, I've got about 10-15 undeveloped ideas in the 'concept' stage, and one of them involves our great sport.

It occurs to me that I've never actually seen a movie about the sport of cycling at all.

Have you? I'm interested in experiences with scripted, fictional stories, not documentaries, so for as much as it was critically acclaimed, I'm not the least bit interested in that film about the Deutsche Telekom team at the Tour de France some years back. (I may still sit down and watch it some day, but it's not why I'm writing this) I'm quite confident that my basis of knowledge in the sport is sufficient to create the necessary atmosphere. Or at least to fool a neophyte :p

Wikipedia gives a rather short list of fictional films about cycling, and certainly not all of them fit in the same niche as my story (a title like BMX Bandits certainly wouldn't seem to be about road racing...actually after checking a few I'm not sure any of them are). Has anyone seen any of those films, or perhaps a scripted, fictional film that may not be on the list? If you have, what about them worked and did not work, in a general sense? I'm not looking for story ideas to steal, I've already got one (though it unfortunately does bear a passing resemblance to the plot of a produced film), I just want to know what about them.....works. It's tough to explain, I'm not sure if I can be any clearer than that.

But on top of that, what do you think you would like to see in a movie about the sport of cycling? Is this even something you would pay to see at all? (Setting aside for the moment concerns like director/actors/budget) Because if PdC wouldn't, it's probably not a marketable idea :p

And given that you all seem honorable sorts...is there anyone who might be interested in reading the script draft when I finish writing it? Oh, and the obvious...what cycling movies would you recommend? Would it be a good idea to sit down with one of those documentaries after all?

I'm not sure when I'll start this one, actually. I'm in the middle of two other drafts currently. But I like to start the 'research' phase as early as possible. Let me know what you think :)