The movie is on tour in Switzerland with various events around his release.
Check wonderfullosers.ch for dates and tickets.

Wonderful Losers: A different world

For those who follow cycling on tv, you know it’s hard to watch our fellows hitting the ground at high speed. We hold our breath while the puzzle made by bodies and bikes resolves by itself. We wait to see who will stay on the ground while the others struggle to get back on their bike as soon as they can, pretending they are OK, just to finish the race. In another world, nobody would have to continue. But this is a cycling race. If you are not here to win, you’re here to help someone else to. Wonderful Losers takes you in the heart of this chaos and his consequences on human being. A film that must be seen and shown.

NOT SEEN ON TV

Watching crashes from an helicopter point of view, with the sounds of the blades and commentators trying to found who’s down who’s not, put a distance on what is really happening on the ground. All this make the scene of crashes looking less real than they actually are. The opening scene of Wonderful Losers, gives you a totally different perspective on crashes that could happen during a race. The sound and the view are different. You hear riders screaming while you’re running with the doctor who has been call for duty.

STUBBORNNESS

The scene happened during the Giro d’Italia 2014, that Arunas Matelis and his crew followed in the Medical Team car, giving us some unprecedented footage of a race. You have to be not claustrophobic to seat there. And not be too nervous. It has just started, but you can feel the tension in the car. Elena is worried, like a Mamma would be. She takes care of all the riders, but she probably won’t let her son riding in that condition. A Saxo Rider came at her window. He crashed and can’t recall anything. He just remember the name of his daughter. The DS says is good to go. It’s the only medical check that has been done on him. Elena seems not to be convinced. Cyclist are stubborn. The movie is full of that evidence. Watching Fabian Wegmann from Garmin-Cervelo who just crashed badly and seems completely knocked, trying to get on his feet and succeeding after 3 attempts, getting back on his bike, had something disturbing. What’s the point of all this ? It’s only cycling. Crashes are part of the cyclist’s career. Fortunately, they recover from almost all of them. One thing that differentiates them from us common mortals, his their mental strength.

IL GREGARIO

During the hour long movie, Svein Tuft (Orica-GreenEdge), Paolo Tiralongo (Astana) and Daniele Colli (Neri-Sottoli), Jos Van Emden (Belkin) try to explain the reason why they have no choice than keep going. One reason is that the head of the race won’t stop. The other reason is what would they do if they will not do cycling ? The fear of boredom is never too far when you speak to an athlete. Many people see cycling as an individual sport. If it’s true for us, it is definitely not the case when you race at pro level. Unus pro omnibus, omnes pro uno. Welcome in the cycling world. A cruel world for most of the man of peloton. What motivates them about being a gregario, someone who will probably never see the spotlight of a podium ceremony during a whole career ? Is that worth all the hard work and all the pain ?

FOR THE LOVE OF CYCLING

Wonderful Losers is a beautiful tribute to the unsung heroes of our sport. The passion for cycling from Arunas Matelis is perceptible on the screen. Proof is how he films the ballet of the porteur d’eau, the rider who goes back to team car to fill his jersey of bidons for his team mates and leader. When he was kid, the lithuanian director wanted to be a pro rider before an accident ended his dream. This is probably the reason why he filmed injured riders and the people who take care of them.

The movie is on tour in Switzerland. Full details on wonderfullosers.ch