Inspired by Netflix’s hit sports docuseries Formula 1: Drive to Survive, Tour de France: Unchained (subtitled ‘Au cœur du peloton,’ meaning ‘in the heart of the peloton’ in French) is a sports docuseries that aims to give a detailed look behind-the-scenes of the most prestigious cycling race in the world and, supposedly, the world’s biggest annual sporting event, the Tour de France, i.e. a three-week cycling race (for Americans, made famous by Lance Armstrong) where numerous teams race around France until they reach Paris on the very last day. This, the first of hopefully multiple seasons of the show, follows the 109th edition of the Tour de France, which began in Copenhagen, Denmark in July of 2022, and had a Dane as one of the most prominent and high-profile riders in the entire race. The series takes you inside sporting director’s cars and team busses of several, but notably not all, of the 22 teams in the race.
As a Danish fan of professional cycling, the 2022 Tour de France means a great deal to me. Not only did it start in Denmark, but that also meant that I got to be out on the Tour de France course for the first time. To add to that, Danish riders like Jonas Vingegaard, Mads Pedersen, and Magnus Cort all had a terrific Tour in 2022, so I was super excited to see what Netflix and the producers had opted to focus on. This French and English language docuseries had the difficult job of both trying to secure new fans of the sport while, simultaneously, serving long-time fans with never-before-seen details about the race. Ultimately, I feel like the show has ended up falling between two stools. While the end product is undeniably entertaining, it isn’t informative enough for people unfamiliar with the Tour and not detailed enough to fully satisfy people like myself.
One of the last things that one of the talking heads in the docuseries mentions is that they hope the docuseries — if anything — highlighted how much of a team sport this is. That is certainly achieved. The docuseries manages to focus in on some of the most fascinating and moving stories of the entire race such as how Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team fought tooth and nail to get their exhausted sprinter, Fabio Jakobsen, over the mountains and through to the next stage, or with how Team Jumbo-Visma utilized their team to attack UAE Team Emirates’ Tadej Pogacar repeatedly, through counter attacks from Jonas Vingegaard and Primoz Roglic, or gradually uphill with Wout Van Aert, whose priorities becomes one of the main talking points in the docuseries (just like it was during the actual race last year). This really works because of how the race turned out, with Jonas Vingegaard and Wout Van Aert’s relationship being a great highlight of the final episode.
But, frankly, the docuseries should aim to show more than just that it is a team sport, and while it does do that from time to time it also leaves out important moments, completely ignores certain competitions, and compresses the exciting and gripping Pogacar-Vingegaard duel way too much. It is such a shame that the docuseries fails to even mention the impeccable moment of sportsmanship shown by Jonas Vingegaard on the Hautacam stage, when he waited for his opponent, Pogacar, after the Slovenian had crashed downhill. That is one of the greatest moments of the Tour de France for me, and I suspect that I’m not alone in saying that. It is also such a shame that UAE opted not to be a part of this docuseries, because the docuseries has a huge Pogacar-sized hole in the middle of it, and it feels incomplete because of his absence, even though the Jumbo-Visma focus is good television.
But, by far, the biggest problem with this show is its mishandling of the minor competitions within the race. The series mostly focuses on the race for the yellow jersey, certain stage-settling sprints, and the race for 3rd place, the latter of which allows for the documentary to focus on David Gaudu and Geraint Thomas who do add a great deal to the documentary. Even though Wout Van Aert rides around in the green jersey for almost the entire docuseries, the show rarely, if ever, points it out. Frankly, unless I’m misremembering, the green, white, and polka-dot jerseys are never explained. While I do get that the white jersey competition was almost decided beforehand, that, too, is a story worth mentioning. While I get that Wout Van Aert dominating the green jersey isn’t necessarily great television, that, too, is worth mentioning. While I get that the combativity award isn’t the most prestigious part of the race, it absolutely is worth explaining. While I get that the mountains classification was ultimately won by someone who only focused on the yellow jersey, the polka-dot jersey and the riders fighting for it deserve much better than what they get here. Given that the early episodes focus on EF Education-EasyPost’s hunt for wins, it is absolutely ridiculous that they don’t show how Magnus Cort wore the polka-dot jersey the entire first week (and how he won a lot of those points in his home country).
With all of this having been said, there are great moments executed quite well here, and the documentary does a good job of introducing people to great cycling ‘characters’ like Marc Madiot, Thibaut Pinot, Patrick Lefevere, Jasper Philipsen, Geraint Thomas, and so on and so forth. There are really solid and moving moments in this docuseries, and it does a good job of focusing on some, but not all, of the great stories of last year’s Tour de France. It is hopefully just the first of many seasons of the show, and, if so, then it is a decent start but with room for improvement. It succeeds in entertaining but is not informative enough or detailed enough.
– Review Written by Jeffrey Rex Bertelsen.
I'm Jeffrey Rex 