A Ride With George Hincapie

directed by Anthony Haney-Jardine

If there’s a lasting image of George Hincapie that told the emotional story of professional cycling, it came during the 2006 Paris Roubaix. There was Big George, a guy who everyone seems to like, who so desperately wanted to win the Hell of the North, sitting on the side of the road in tears after his fork steerer tube snapped at the stem. It was heartbreaking to watch. There was so much hope and so many people who wanted to watch him ride into the Roubaix Velodrome. But, his dream was broken just like the crumpled bike lying on the side of the cobblestone road.

In A Ride With George Hincapie, viewers are taken back in time to the rider’s early years growing up in Queens, New York and through his entire cycling career. The documentary is filmed in a quirky style with Hincapie being interviewed from inside a moving car while he rides a training route near his Greenville, South Carolina winter home. The Q&A session (which seems odd at times with questions like “What do you suck at?”), is broken up by family movies, race footage and interviews with past teammates (Lance Armstrong, David Zabriskie and Christian Vande Velde among them), commentators (Phil Liggett, Paul Sherwen) and relatives.

The movie feels a little longer than its 81-minute run time, but the good parts of the documentary are so compelling it’s worth sitting through the dryer moments. Available in Canada through Ryeka Sport at ryekasport.com.

::GEARBOX
A Ride With George Hincapie
Anthony Haney-Jardine
12029