Cycling in Africa: Namibia

United by their renegade spirit and a determination to win against substantial odds, these riders take on the international circuit. The film offers unique insights into the first five years of their journey, bearing witness to the ethos of the team as embodied by all – from the strongest to most embattled members. Out of a culture that embraces a deeply human approach to sport, unlikely champions are born, and seemingly improbable team and personal goals are achieved.

Documentary looking at a century of cycling. Commissioned to mark the arrival of the 2014 Tour de France in Yorkshire, the film makes full use of stunning British Film Institute footage to transport the audience on a journey from the invention of the modern bike, through the rise of recreational cycling, to gruelling competitive races. Award-winning director Daisy Asquith artfully combines the richly-diverse archive with a hypnotic soundtrack from cult composer Bill Nelson in a joyful, absorbing watch for both cycling and archive fans.

A chronology of the 1976 Paris-Roubaix bicycle race from the perspective of participants, organizers and spectators.

Just how far can you ride a bike In 24 hours? Ultra-endurance cyclist Mark Beaumont is joined by GCN Presenter James Lowsley-Williams on an overnight expedition from Somerset to Scotland through gruelling winter conditions. Along the way they are tested by a team of top academics to monitor the effect of the demanding challenge is having on their cognitive function and long term physical ability. Battling fatigue and the ever-changing weather conditions, how far can they make it?

Paris-Brest-Paris is a cycling spectacle like no other. Once every 4 years, over 7,000 cyclists from across the globe head to France’s capital to take on this gruelling 1200 km. Thousands of spectators flock to the roadsides of North-West France to support the riders; some of whom will be attempting to finish first, riding non-stop for over 48 hours, whilst others are just trying to make it back to Paris before the 90 hour cut off time. We follow British amateur riders Jack Thurston and Amy Hudson as they tackle this monumental challenge for the first time, along with veteran French rider Dominique Lamouller, racing Paris-Brest-Paris for the13th time, along with his son, ex-pro road racer Loïc Lamouller. A gruelling course, intense heat, and sleep deprivation, will our riders make it back to Paris?

Canyon//SRAM racing takes on one of the biggest races on the women’s calendar: the Giro Donne. The GCN+ cameras go behind-the-scenes to capture every single moment. With exclusive access to the team, including established stars and rising talents like Chloé Dygert, Tiffany Cromwell, and Antonia Niedermaier, this fly-on-the-wall documentary pulls back the curtain on how one of the best teams in the business navigates the emotional and physical rollercoaster of a truly dramatic race. With ex-pros Magnus Bäckstedt and Dani Christmas in the team car, expectations are for big performances and big wins. But, with treacherous conditions and big crashes across nine brutal stages, how does the team stay ahead of the competition and deliver results?

GCN presenter and ex-professional cyclist Conor Dunne heads to Midwest America to take on the infamous UNBOUND 200. Alongside 100 pro riders and more than 1000 amateurs, this is the biggest gravel race in the world. Across 330 km of unforgiving Kansas landscape, Conor must battle tyre-slashing flint, thick mud, and crippling heat exhaustion in a fight to make it to the finish. Conor is joined by former World Tour road pros Nathan Haas and Larry Warbasse, up-and coming gravel racer Anna Yamauchi, and 2022 Unbound champion Ivar Slik in this up close and personal, no-holds barred look at what it takes to survive this brutal event.

Female cyclists from all parts of London meet at the Angel Ditton, before cycling to Wisley for a picnic.

A revolutionary political moment is captured firsthand by two independent women filmmakers shooting inside refugee settlements in Zambia and Angola in 1985. Depicting the significant role of women in this struggle for independence, this film explores the lives of exiled women workers attempting to free their country from illegal exploitation.

The life of Leah Goldstein, a champion kickboxer, undercover operative, and endurance cyclist, is explored in this feature documentary as she attempts to break the record in the world’s most intense bicycle race, the Race Across America.

Witness cycling’s top photographers in action at the world’s most beautiful bike race, as we go behind the lens with Ashley and Jered Gruber, Luca Bettini, and Zac Williams at the 2023 Giro d’Italia. Filmed during the race’s three epic final stages, learn how the photographers chase the action, doing their best to capture the pain and glory of the riders, and document the beauty of the mountains and towns across Italy. This is a thrill-a-minute, front row seat to the stunning finale of a race that will live long in the memory – and in the photographers’ beautiful imagery.

A documentary about cycling and those who participate in it, from the point of view of various people. From South to Center Portugal, and even the UK, France and Spain, it aims to understand the passion of cyclists when it comes to this hobby and, most particularly, old-school bikes

"Africa Light" - as white local citizens call Namibia. The name suggests romance, the beauty of nature and promises a life without any problems in a country where the difference between rich and poor could hardly be greater. Namibia does not give that impression of it. If you look at its surface it seems like Africa in its most innocent and civilized form. It is a country that is so inviting to dream by its spectacular landscape, stunning scenery and fascinating wildlife. It has a very strong tourism structure and the government gets a lot of money with its magical attraction. But despite its grandiose splendor it is an endless gray zone as well. It oscillates between tradition and modernity, between the cattle in the country and the slums in the city. It shuttles from colonial times, land property reform to minimum wage for everyone. It fluctuates between socialism and cold calculated market economy.

Documentary film about a group of cyclists who organized themselves in 1978 in the “BSG Turbine Potsdam.”

Zurich-born Hugo Koblet was the first international cycling star of the post-war period. He was a stylist on the bicycle and in life, and a huge heartthrob. Koblet had a meteoric rise and won the Giro d'Italia in 1950. Once he had reached the zenith of his career, Koblet was put under pressure by overly ambitious officials and ended up ruining his health with drugs. In 1954, he married a well-known model and they became a celebrity dream couple. After his athletic career ended, Koblet began to lose his footing. Threatened by bankruptcy, he crashed his Alfa into a tree.

From his humble beginnings in his hometown of Sheffield, England, Steve Peat has established himself as one of the worlds most iconic cyclists. Peaty has been competing at the top level in his chosen sport of downhill mountain bike racing for the past 23 years, longer than the lifetime of many of his current competitors. Through 20 years of archival footage and photos and intimate interviews with Steve, his family, close friends and competitors, Won’t Back Down takes viewers on a captivating tour of the history of the sport of downhill mountain bike racing and offers a never-before-seen view into the life and legacy of this enduring icon.

The incredible story of the greatest cycling race in history, the 1989 Tour de France, and how American Greg LeMond faced down betrayal, childhood sexual abuse and death completing one of the most inspiring comebacks in history.

Between 1904 and 1908, when Namibia was still called German South West Africa and a German colony, up to 60,000 Ovaherero and 10,000 Nama died at the hands of German colonialists. The crimes of the German colonial rulers went down in history as the first genocide of the 20th century. The Afro-German presenter and influencer Aminata Belli travels to the African country to investigate the extent to which the legacy of the German colonial era affects the present day of Namibian society. She pays particular attention to the involvement of the Protestant Church in the subjugation of the indigenous people and the sense of guilt of the descendants of the German settlers as well as the Germans themselves. To do this, the fashion journalist interviews various people on site and pretends to be interested in the following questions: Were the missionaries of the time guilty? How does a country heal when horrific things have happened there? And is reconciliation possible?

Before Lance Armstrong, there was Greg LeMond, who is now the first and only American to win the Tour de France. In this engrossing documentary, LeMond looks back at the pivotal 1986 Tour, and his increasingly vicious rivalry with friend, teammate, and mentor Bernard Hinault. The reigning Tour champion and brutal competitor known as “The Badger,” Hinault ‘promised’ to help LeMond to his first victory, in return for LeMond supporting him in the previous year. But in a sport that purports to reward teamwork, it’s really every man for himself.

In 1988, Tilda Swinton toured round the Berlin Wall on a bicycle - starting and ending at the Brandenburg Gate - accompanied by filmmaker Cynthia Beatt. As Swinton travels through fields and historic neighborhoods, past lakes and massive concrete apartment buildings, the Wall is a constant presence.