QUIÉVY FONTAINE AU TERTRE
Two attractive sequences in ASundayinHell soon after the race enters the cobbles were shot on one single sector still used today, usually referred to as Quiévy à Saint-Python, although it actually finishes at a large farm at a crossroads known as Fontaine au Tertre. This sector was No 27 in 2017, and will be No 26 in 2018 when it will be covered in the opposite direction, from Fontaine au Tertre to Quiévy. An extended sequence, at a crossroads midway through the sector, begins by depicting a variety of spectators, young and old, waiting for the race to arrive, and culminates in Freddy Maertens sprinting out of the corner between two roadside banks lined with fans. The scene is pretty much unchanged today, although without the ranks of fans it looks empty to say the least. This is one that I managed to isolate from television footage of the 2016 race, as that shows an almost identical shot from a motorbike camera.
Approaching Fontaine au Tertre, Holmberg instructed cameraman Jan Weincke to set up on the right-hand side of the road on a bank by a farm. The brief was to go to locations suitable for the use of a massive telephoto lens that would condense and foreshorten the action - he was also responsible for an extended sequence down an avenue shortly after the race start, showing the early break going clear. In the Fontaine au Tertre shot, a good half-mile of pavé can be seen back to the top of the little hill after the earlier crossroads; much of the field is visible in several groups, with Maertens chasing after his early puncture. This scene has changed considerably since 1976, mainly because the trees that line the road in Leth’s film have been cut back, and because a new tree line has sprung up to the left. It’s almost impossible to make out; I worked the location out only at the end of February this year. The 1976 race also used this year’s sector 27, covered in the opposite direction.