The film follows the 1965 Tour de France not as a sports documentary but an atmospheric film of the events that surround it. Where riders are shown racing, it is an illustration of the hardship or the danger they face. The main events are the daily routines of the competitors, the bossing about of spectators by officials (which Lelouch emphasises by adding animal noises to the soundtrack), the monotonous days of journalists who follow the race for hours to write only a few hundred words, and the evening entertainment laid on by the Europe-1 radio station.

Frank Alamo
as Self

Michel Barbey
as

Felice Gimondi
as Self

Nancy Holloway
as Self

Raymond Poulidor
as Self

Rik Van Looy
as Self