More from hell...

[viktorvaldemar]

the bulldog of flanders?! lol

[per4545df]

i really like de vlamnicks style

[WRTYIO]

Tough tough race now - even tougher back then. No helmets and bikes less than 'cushioned'.

[Trulyloyale]

Deserved nick for this unbelievably hard & difficult clobbed classic , Hell of the North .....!!

Such a particular & captiving race is out from any racing category, it's just

La Roubaix and to realize it, think about Fausto Coppi : the greatest ever , the Legend of cyclism and emblem of cycling rider , ran this race 4 times

winning it in 1950 and getting a 2nd place in 1952 & 1955 , which was simply

unbearable for " Il Campionissimo " ....!!!

[Tweekerhead]

Love old school Raymond Poulidor refuses to draft in the decisive move at 8:52, he could have made the break if he had of slinged off of Danguillaume. This never gets old, just the guy watchin' it !

[yngwieisking]

@ScottDiddles I think the bus says a lot about the riders. Bradley Wiggins might be able to win medals riding around an indoor track like a little pansy, but you'll never see him win Paris-Roubaix or the Tour of Flanders. NEVER! Damn I hate Bradley Wiggins and Team Sky. They think they're so damn smart and superior to everyone else. Tossers.

[imajeepster]

@yngwieisking

lol...also, BW is so skinny, he'd get bounced around on those cobbles like a tennis ball!

[soobeng]

GREAT VIDEO

[NikodemusNikodemus]

and people complain about today's road conditions...

[molyneux1000]

@ScottDiddles You seem to be taken in by all the marketing hype about modern bikes. In reality, it makes such little difference. Bill Nickson snr, who won the Tour of Britain in the 70's, told me it's 99% the rider, 1% the bike.

My brother used to ride in Belgium in the 90's when aluminium bikes where the norm. He said he'd dread it when the Russians would turn up to a race. Despite using steel frames, it always turned into a rout; the Russians would win.

[uzer81]

muy buen video

[Bhousm76]

i love vintage videos like this...

[arklat]

Man! Plankeart isn't even moving. He looks dead! The carnage is just crazy!

[danistepn]

bellissime riprese , siete dei grandi ...la rai se le sogna queste riprese

[heavyseven88]

no drugs iz like saying chinese don't ride bikes 5:40 do r DIE

;

[chuleta284]

no helmets?

[Bhousm76]

@chuleta284

sometimes it depends on the stage..in some stages of the tour de france they dont use helmets.

[duinthadope420]

@Bhousm76 . no, actually helmets are absolutely mandatory in racing now, I think it was 2002 when they made it a rule.

[Bhousm76]

@duinthadope420

thats interesting..did they decide to do that after a death or something?

[duinthadope420]

@Bhousm76 yes, there was the March 2003 death of Kazakh Andrei Kivilev. They made helmets mandatory in May 2003, but briefly gave riders the option to drop them on final climbs longer than 5km. That rule was deemed too stupid for books so they amended it to a real mandatory helmet requirement.

[lesterqvd7]

duuude, thats a sick ass gash!

hell mothafucking yeeeah!!!

[macdonaldjohnd]

Jessie Reith dont assume anything in cycling! Merckx didnt win, you have to watch this classic edition, ALL of it to see what happened.

[bobbygnosis]

Good old days.

Single pull brakes.

No helmets.

Death imminent.

[JesseReith1]

1976; Merckx

2010; CANCELLARA!! congrats ;-)

[bigjeffbigjeff]

I love classic tour: no drugs, no carbon fiber, no helmets, lots of dirt and cobblestones, and motherf'n grit!

[edog1955]

"No drugs"?? I raced back in those days. There were drugs. Just not as sophisticated as are available now.

[3rdeddie]

@bigjeffbigjeff lots of drugs

[smartererer]

sorry if the usa makes the internet for you and then we make youtube and then we try to participate in some sports too but somehow we are jerks and we ruin your life. i guess maybe we have to invent technology so you can get over your lameness next.

[jaykobsen]

By that logic you would have to thank whichever culture in the ancient world invented the boat so that america could be found - or China for inventing the compass - or Spain for sending out Columbus to explore the oceans - or the egyptians for inventing writing so that you may defend your honor via text. But hey, thank you for the internet and youtube. We appriciate it. On a serious note, I see no harm in the US participating in global sports. Sports will always evolve either way. Like it or not

[coreys1]

christopher columbus was born in genoa italy

[jaykobsen]

@coreys1 Yes he was, but he sailed under the spanish flag. That was what I was refering to. You are missing the point a bit, but okay

[matbru1986]

@smartererer just wanna say onley all the americans think america is great. God bless america and let him shit all over the rest

[adski71]

internet was invented by an englishman

[terryhfs]

You're thinking of the World Wide Web - it's a part of the Internet, it's not 'the' Internet.

[NullUnit2]

@teufelspass1967 I agree but I wouldn't blame anything but big money. You could argue that once pro road racing took hold in N. America that big money followed and that has led to what can be argued as a more structured and boring approach to the sport. So much more character, class and personality in the sport back then, in my opinion. Better jerseys too, not destroyed by too many sponsors!

[ClockCutter]

@NullUnit2 You're a moron, if you think that American teams have somehow defiled bicycle racing. But a child needs a bogeyman, I suppose.

[NullUnit2]

@ClockCutter: I don't think American teams have in any way defiled bicycle racing. I said 'big money' has led to a more structured approach and that 'big money' started kicking in as soon as pro road cycling became popular in NORTH AMERICA. Learn how to read.

[romacki]

"big american teams"

what has "america" got to do with road cycling?? virtually nothing

you can't blame the sorry state of modern cycling on "big american teams" since there's only what? two??

[matbru1986]

yea, its a shame american dollars ruin other culturs, they should show more respect, who do they think they are...

[wanmaker]

EPIC

[MenollytheBeagle]

OW! Why they invented helmets...

[sanremo01]

de vrais héros ! Real heroes.

[arklat]

tdforbust. If you know anything about Merckx, then you know your similarities are slim. He is the greatest ever. How many races have you won. Myself I have won many, and I'm not talking about club races, I've won pro-ams, plus many track events. I rode with Merckx in Colorado in '86, and he was fast then, even after years of retirement. Give Merckx some well deserved respect. NOBODY is like him! His record of pro wins will never be surpassed! His only missing races is Paris-Tours, and he was 2.

[HabloIrlandes]

Wow, have you seen the gash on the guys head at 1:40 , thats when men were men and they rode bikes!

[sprintbass]

you just KNOW he got 40 stichesthat was a deep deep gash!

[hanmaenen]

22 miles? A couple of 100 yards? Is this medieval Imperial trash really used in France? Typically British to pretend that such is the case!

[pffniksbeterstedoen]

the French dont, the Brittish does

[professortiki]

Must be great "fun" to drive in the exhaust fumes of about a dozen motorcylces

[venadoSOTX]

FRANCISCO MOSER is like aTOM BOONEN 2009

[sprintbass]

pardon the correction... boonon is like roger de vlaminck...boonon is chasing his record...boonen is currantly at 3 wins at roubaix, roger de vlaminck won it 4 times, If i recall right moser only won it once. but i will agree boonen is a bad ass.

[k4l4sh77]

Moser won it 3 times ;-)

RDV was also 4 times 2nd lol

[Snidgepac]

Still my favorite racing vid. of all time. The overhead of the echelon at the beginning blew my little USCF mind when I saw this vid. in '88. Great racing and commentary.

[sjl62]

What Moser does at 9:15 reminds me of Cancellara's ride at the Olympics last year: bridging from the group to the break like a motorcycle. Moser and Cancellara are actually quite similar in a lot of ways -- in style, in strength, and in appearance!

[tdforbust]

I agree, and I am quite similar to Eddie Merckx in a lot of ways -- in style, in strength, and in appearance!

[SteveShasta]

2:36 distinguished entry into the gallery of great moustachery

[sjl62]

Word on that! If only one could combine it with Merckx's burns and De Vlaeminck's mullet!

[mglacken0410]

I cannot get over the speed. I know that the average speeds of today is much higher but still. RDV was a bull on the road!

[AustenWHOA]

This is awesome. Thanks for posting the video

[tomolavwefald]

man this has been a favorite video of mine for almost 20 years. I treasure my copy on VHS

[arklat]

This is true racing. Attack Attack Attack!! Only the strongest, best-skilled bike handlers will survive to contest the finish. Merckx and DeVlaminck, Maertens and Moser were hard to beat on this type of course.

[elilichtenberg]

watch the suspension on the motorcycles! yikes.

[grindwalker]

Wow, if I were a professional rider, I would never ride that, even with a flexible, but padded, set up.

[vladhed]

boy, I sure don't miss toe clips...if you look at the post 1990 P-R you see the riders fall and get back up and go. Here they're left lying on the ground until someone releases them from their bikes!

[littledancer14]

when are ya gonna complete the story?

[Poluxantis]

He took anabolica but it was then legal... He's son was clean otherwise he's son would be caught in those years ...

[kiwidjmeimei]

ah the good old days of bike racing. no helmets and steel bike frames!

[BicchiereNellaBirra]

God bless the helmets, blimey!

[grindwalker]

Indeed! This is too much to take with a bare head!

[dob90210]

I just had my Kona Paddy Wagon fixed 42-14 out for a 50 mile spin here in Ireland. Great spin - steel is real and one gear is more real

[ardiesken]

merckx, the god of cycling

[polpetrol]

beautiful footage and a very exciting time for racefans.

[alanjames177]

incrediable footage, very moving. What characters, many were on drugs, but Jesus they could ride.

[lesmcluffalot]

Kewlios

[Torro62]

The few the proud the brave....

[Ceaser486]

like at 642 when the car almost hit that guy, this is some of the most dangerous shit ive ever seen in my life, big ups to the oldschool

[jjashik7]

Racing on pavé without helmet is like hockey goalies without helmets - just crazy to think of it. I'm thankful to be living today with helmets as norms.

[quoe1]

best that ever did it.

[FACTUNTHJU]

wonderful,captivating,nostalgi­a of a world that was better than it is now,good honest footage and that sound effect ringing in the background keeps the tension in the air.watch a film called 'Day of the jackal'(1973)

[FACTUNTHJU]

where can i get this video?

[locator1]

try amazon

[colemanite]

It's a real tragedy that the winner of this race, Marc De Meyer,

died at the age of 32. Doping rears it's ugly head again.

[simonahughes]

whats the name of this movie ??? is it on dvd

[locator1]

"A Sunday In Hell"

[Dries2006]

Great movie, I have it all on DVD.

[sunsnowwarm]

Great footage, thanks for posting it. I think i will post some of my videos. Well good job. I love cycling.

[chocolatewheelchair]

great vid. thanks for posting

[scoutindc]

Despite all the recent doping scandals and controversy, this race still exudes a sense of purity. It doesn't matter who the riders are, or what they may or may not be on; you can be absolutely certain they will all suffer. There's something undeniably 'clean' about that.

[anezz210]

*****awesome, awesome, awesome, awesome, awesome

[lukeyrowe]

what year is this from?

[sjl62]

1976

[adbv67]

which wonderful pursuit francesco moser did ! this is his race... a lot of power, he had not so much "brain" but a lot of power, otherwise he could win more .

nice video !

[Kerintji]

In my opinion the Best Cycle race video ever.

[chocolatewheelchair]

i agree.

[sjl62]

good ol' eddy, always on the front of his group.

also, i miss sideburns. pops to frank schleck for reviving the de vlaeminck look.

[wybo2]

WHAHAHAHAHA, the only thing u hear are flammish bycicles

[Fisherman4446]

very nice!!! any other old cycling films you would suggest? Look at he cars, clothes, bikes, hair......everything has changed so much

[zachthomas]

Yeah, the bikes, team kits, and tech may have changed so much from then, but really, nothing much has changed from then to now.