Do you like cycling? These Movies Are Worth Seeing!

Some cycling films stay with people long after they first see them. A few on this list were early influences for SILCA’s leadership, including Breaking Away and American Flyers, both of which left an impression on Josh Poertner well before his career in the cycling industry.

Over time, those early references were joined by others. This list grew out of conversations around SILCA HQ, where cycling movies, documentaries, and series tend to come up as shared points of context. It is not a ranking and it is not meant to be exhaustive. It is simply a collection of cycling-related films that the SILCA team believes are worth seeing.

Some are race documentaries, some are narrative films, some are animated, and others sit closer to cycling culture than competition. As a group, they reflect the kinds of cycling stories people tend to revisit this time of year, when riding often shifts indoors and familiar routines set in.

A Cycling Movie List From SILCA Staff

 

Breaking Away (1979, English, 1h 41 min)

Awards: Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay (1980)
A coming-of-age story built around the Indiana University Little 500, a collegiate race that mirrors the atmosphere of classic American cycling events. While not about professional racing, the film captures identity, rivalry, and obsession in a way that continues to resonate with cyclists decades later.

 

A Sunday in Hell (1977, Danish and English, 1h 43 min)

Awards: Jury Prize, Festival du Film Sportif de Chamonix
A documentary centered on Paris Roubaix, capturing the unpredictability and physical toll of one of cycling’s most demanding one-day races. Riders such as Roger De Vlaeminck and Francesco Moser appear throughout, grounding the film in the classic European racing era.

 

Thereabouts #1 (2014, English, 1h 27 min)

After a demanding period of racing, Lachlan Morton steps away from competition and returns to riding for simpler reasons, traveling across the Australian outback with his brother Angus. The film reflects an off-season reset and reconnects with what first drew him to the bike. This first installment began as a Kickstarter-funded project and later became the foundation for the broader Thereabouts series.

 

Bicycle Thieves (1948, Italian, 1h 29 min)

Awards: Academy Honorary Award for Best Foreign Language Film (1950)
Set in postwar Italy, this classic film places the bicycle at the center of everyday life. While not a cycling movie in the modern sense, it shows how deeply a bike can matter to survival and dignity.

 

American Flyers (1985, English, 1h 53 min)

A fictional story about competitive road cycling set against the Rocky Mountains, with recognizable performances by Kevin Costner and Rae Dawn Chong. The racing backdrop reflects the era of American stage racing when events like the Coors Classic helped define US domestic road cycling.

 

The Triplets of Belleville (2003, French, 1h 20 min)

Awards: Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Feature
An animated Francophone film with a strong cycling thread, loosely centered around the Tour de France. It relies on atmosphere and visual storytelling rather than dialogue, setting it apart from traditional cycling films.

 

The Flying Scotsman (2006, English, 1h 36 min)

A biographical film about Graeme Obree and his unconventional approach to breaking the hour record. The story focuses on experimentation and persistence rather than conventional measures of success.

 

Quicksilver (1986, English, 1h 45 min)

A film centered on urban bike messengers, featuring an early leading role from Kevin Bacon. It captures a specific era of city riding culture focused on speed, risk, and daily survival rather than competition. Olympic Silver-medalist Nelson Vails adds authenticity to the messenger scenes.

 

Rad (1986, English, 1h 31 min)

A BMX film reflecting mid-nineteen-eighties bike culture and grassroots competition. It remains a cultural reference point for riders who grew up around BMX during that period.

 

Stars and Water Carriers (1974, French, 1h 50 min)

Awards: Official Selection, Cannes Film Festival (1974)
A documentary following the 1973 Giro d’Italia, centered on Eddy Merckx during one of the defining grand tours of his career. Directed by Jorgen Leth, the film treats stage racing as both athletic contest and moving drama, observing the roles riders assume within the race itself. The tension between Merckx and Spanish climber José Manuel Fuente shapes much of the narrative, while a dedicated section on Danish rider Ole Ritter offers an unusually intimate look at preparation and effort during the time trial. The film’s structure, commentary, and sound design emphasize rhythm, suffering, and motion rather than results.

 

Icarus (2017, English, 2h 1 min)

Awards: Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature (2018)
A documentary that begins with an experiment related to cycling performance and expands into a broader investigation with implications beyond the sport. This one has implications from gran fondos to the 2014 Sochi Winter XXII Olympic Games.

 

Tour de France Unchained (2023 to present, multiple languages, episodic series)

A modern series offering behind-the-scenes access to WorldTour teams during the Tour de France. It provides context around team dynamics, pressure, and daily decision-making.

 

Hell on Wheels (2004, English and German, 1h 54 min)

A team-focused documentary following the 2003 Tour de France from inside the peloton. It shows daily life during a three-week race, including team roles, fatigue, and recovery, offering a modern counterpoint to earlier Tour films.

 

Major Taylor Documentaries (various years, English, various runtimes)

Documentaries exploring the life and legacy of Marshall "Major" Taylor, one of the earliest international cycling champions. His story predates modern professional racing and highlights both athletic achievement and the social barriers he faced. Taylor was born in Indianapolis, where SILCA is headquartered.

 

Yowamushi Pedal The Movie (2015, Japanese with subtitles, 1h 29 min)

An anime film centered on team-based road racing and progression within the sport. It emphasizes effort, loyalty, and long-term development.

 

OverDrive (2007, Japanese with subtitles, series)

An anime series focused on youth road racing, training, and personal growth. It offers a serialized look at cycling development rather than a single film narrative.

 

Off-Season Trainer Time? These Films Can Help Break Up the Routine

A lot of indoor riding today happens on platforms like Zwift, TrainerRoad, or MyWhoosh, and for many riders, those tools provide structure, metrics, and motivation. At the same time, not every trainer session needs a virtual course, a workout prompt, or an interactive screen demanding attention. Some rides are about putting time in and letting the effort stay steady.

On those days, a movie or documentary can take the place of the usual on-screen experience. Instead of following an avatar or interval targets, the story carries the session. For riders who move between structured training and quieter endurance rides throughout the winter, having something engaging or familiar playing in the background can make the time feel less repetitive without distracting from the ride itself.

Because this list spans different formats and runtimes, it gives riders flexibility in how they approach indoor sessions, depending on how much time they want to spend on the bike and what kind of mental break they are looking for.

There is also a more emotional reason why cycling films tend to resonate. Riding is not only about training plans or numbers. For many people, it is tied to memory, identity, and the simple act of moving through the world on a bike. When a film connects with that side of riding, something clicks. The ride feels less like a task and more like time spent with the sport itself, even when it is happening indoors.

Watch Josh Walk Through the List

Josh talks through these films and why they continue to come up around SILCA HQ in a video on the SILCA Velo YouTube channel. He adds context around cycling history, racing culture, and why these stories might tend to stick with riders of any type, over time.