Finlay Pretsell’s breakthrough as a filmmaker came in 2007 with Standing Start, a short film that combines his dual passions for cycling and filmmaking. The success of that film, nominated for a Grierson Newcomer Award, planted a seed for a feature, that would allow Finlay to communicate his ecstatic vision of what it feels like to ride and race. At the same time Finlay met Scottish-born cyclist David Millar, one of Britain’s most successful road cyclists, with stage wins in all three of the Grand Tours. This meeting started Finlay on the road to his directorial debut feature documentary TIME TRIAL. 

Thanks to some lovely words in an article in today’s Guardian from Richard Williams, who recently saw a sneak preview of the David Millar Project, readers can be amongst the first to know the title for the project.

Here's a birthday treat from our film. 2017 is the year!

Last autumn the David Millar Project were asked by Brooks of England to assist in the launch of their new high tech Cambium C13 carbon saddle.

Tirreno-Adriatico 2013, Stage 6, Porto Sant'Elpidio to Porto Sant'Elpidio. 

En route to Strada Cocciari Summit, Round 3.

The TV cameras had long gone. We had already witnessed top riders getting off their bikes and walking up the 30% gradient at the end of the climb. Way off the back, we kept waiting for Phinney to pass the climb for the 3rd time. 

A few pointers from Finlay on shooting footage that is useful for us at the upcoming Commonwealth Games:

• Above all this is about the ‘fan's eye view’ of one of David’s last races. Don’t worry if people get in the way - let them come in and out of the frame.
• Don’t be afraid to shoot with your family, friends and colleagues all taking the race in, or setting up a picnic at the side of the road, or even shouting abuse!
• Long shots are good. Don’t be shy. Try and hold each shot for a minimum of 30 seconds if not longer.
• Shots of the crowd and environment are also very useful. If something catches your eye that you think is interesting, then film it.

My sole objective was to make it up the climb because I didn’t want a photo for prosperity from my last year of me walking up a climb with my bike.
— David Millar (with Marcel Kittel in Cycling Weekly)

What it feels like to chase Bradley Wiggins up a 30% climb:

Iain Smith OBE, producer of 24: Live Another Day, Mad Max: Fury Road and The Fifth Element is to join the team behind a much-anticipated documentary on professional cycling as an executive producer. The David Millar Project will be an immersive film capturing the very essence of professional cycling, told from Millar’s point of view, with unparalleled access to pro races across Europe.

Millar, who just suffered an unexpected blow by being booted off Garmin-Sharp’s Tour de France Team, is being followed by director Finlay Pretsell all through his final season.

Pretsell, who himself cycled for Scotland in the past, said: “I’m thrilled Iain Smith is joining us, bringing a wealth of experience to the project – and a love for cycling. Yet again, our story has taken an unexpected and dramatic twist.”

What a turn of events this month has been.

We had planned a pre-Tour interview with David anyway, and suddenly he was in the middle of a Twitter and media storm when he was pulled from the official 2014 Garmin-Sharp line up.

Bucchianico to Porto Sant'Elpidio. Stage 6, Tirreno Adriatico.

This day started in the beautiful hill town of Bucchianico, in the mountains outside Chieti. We had wisely pre-installed a number of onboard cameras the night before, because they all take time to set up and to take the stress out of the morning – or so we thought.