This paper will analyse representations of the male body in contemporary French sports films that focus on endurance events such as triathlons and long-distance cycle races. It will discuss Laurent Tuel’s La Grande Boucle (Tour de Force, 2013), NIls Tavernier’s De Toutes nos Forces (The Finishers, 2013) and Pascal Rabaté’s Du Goudron et des Plumes (Patchwork Family, 2014).

Although endurance events take their toll on the body and are very tiring, the motivations for participating in them that are visible within contemporary French sports films paradoxically often stem from weariness. This weariness often stems from frustration about work and struggles to maintain functioning family relationships.

The films this paper examines involve protagonists embarking on novelty pursuits that can be located within field of recreational amateur sport rather than elite professional sport. Crucially, they provide an outlet from frustrations linked to work or family. However, such quests often have more to do with work than one might think. As I demonstrated in a 2021 article (co-authored with Hugh Dauncey) about the centenarian cyclist Robert Marchand, exploits in what initially appear to be novelty events are often situated within discourses that are highly relevant to work. Furthermore, Jürgen Martschukat’s Age of Fitness reminds us that working towards a fit body can involve aspiring towards ideals of productivity that are strongly associated with modern capitalism.

This paper will explore the extent to which a group of French sports films focus on the male sporting bodies in ways that are informed by discourses associated with work. It will also examine the importance of factors such as race, class, and disability when it comes to defining who can compete and how they can do so.