Zero to Hero - Armchair to Alps

Overview

The Etape du Tour. A monstrous cycling sportive that pits amateur bike riders against the toughest stage of the Tour de France. With 165km to cover, almost 5000 metres of elevation to climb, and just 5 months to prepare - how will GCN’s resident stat Guru, Cillian Kelly, fare? Crossing three giant Alpine passes in temperatures reaching 40 degrees celsius, it’s a serious test even for the best cyclists in the world. The documentary will explore whether Cillian - a normal, time-starved, unfit man with two young children and a 9-5 job - can go from couch potato to mountain goat in just 5 months. Heat exhaustion, Covid, and the fear of plummeting at high speed off the side of a mountain all stand in Cillian’s way of making it to the start, let alone the finish! With help from seasoned ex-pros Sean Kelly, Nicolas Roche and Conor Dunne, can Cillian prove to himself - and his colleagues - that even a rank amateur with zero cycling fitness can go from zero to hero?

Production

GCN+