I suppose that as a fan of pro cycling from the age of twelve, this Netflix documentary series could only ever disappoint. Why? Well, pro cycling is perhaps one of the easiest sports to explain on a strictly rule-based level, but it's perhaps one of the most difficult sports to understand without experiencing it continually over many races and many seasons. As is so well explained in this series, it's a sport of extreme attrition while also being a highly tactical game; something you don't just get by watching a single stage in a Grand Tour or a Spring Classic.
So, the creators of this series had their work cut out for them. They had to educate while also managing to entertain. I suppose they found that task too great a challenge as they failed miserably at educating. Does it then absolve them that they know how to entertain?
For me, it might have had they been honest in the way they'd chosen to construct their narrative threads. They were not. As an example I can't forgive is the way they set up the team EF Education, rightly, as an underdog in need of UCI points, but then chose to completely ignore reality in favor of a good story. You see, stage 12 ended on the legendary Alpe d´Huez - a mountain so occupied by people during the stage it could be claimed to be more populated than certain European capitals, so of course such a stage has to be front and center. And so, to set the scene we're told EF Education has had a bad Tour up to that point; that this is the chance to turn it around. The young and talented Neilson Powless, who has proven to be anything but powerless, is set up as the man to save EF. Now, while that's all very entertaining and sets up a battle between Powless and later winner of the Stage, Tom Pidcock, it's nonetheless utter nonsense as two stages earlier Magnus Cort, an unsung hero also of EF Education, had won stage 10. We see one clip of Cort... in the bus, in the background. And Jonathan Vaughters, general manager of EF Education, even mentions that it's been a good Tour as Cort won and in the process he contradicts himself and this documentary.
There are multiple examples like that and of editorial choices to steal shots from a mountain stage where fatigue is obvious and then splice it into another, earlier stage to construct a conflict and thusly drama.
So, my overall point is that the Tour does not need this kind of dishonesty - it's abundant with drama. It's one of the most suspenseful events on the sports calendar and it's widely believed that 2022 was a new high point. Had the 2022 edition been a wine it would be invaluable. So why cheat? Why rob sporting heroes of their achievements by editing them out? I'll let others answer that and just conclude that if you're already a bit of connoisseur, then this is most likely not for you. And if you're considering watching this series and haven't any real knowledge of pro cycling and the Tour de France, then by all means enjoy it but be aware that reality is much wilder and more dramatic than this soap-operatic endeavor.
So, the creators of this series had their work cut out for them. They had to educate while also managing to entertain. I suppose they found that task too great a challenge as they failed miserably at educating. Does it then absolve them that they know how to entertain?
For me, it might have had they been honest in the way they'd chosen to construct their narrative threads. They were not. As an example I can't forgive is the way they set up the team EF Education, rightly, as an underdog in need of UCI points, but then chose to completely ignore reality in favor of a good story. You see, stage 12 ended on the legendary Alpe d´Huez - a mountain so occupied by people during the stage it could be claimed to be more populated than certain European capitals, so of course such a stage has to be front and center. And so, to set the scene we're told EF Education has had a bad Tour up to that point; that this is the chance to turn it around. The young and talented Neilson Powless, who has proven to be anything but powerless, is set up as the man to save EF. Now, while that's all very entertaining and sets up a battle between Powless and later winner of the Stage, Tom Pidcock, it's nonetheless utter nonsense as two stages earlier Magnus Cort, an unsung hero also of EF Education, had won stage 10. We see one clip of Cort... in the bus, in the background. And Jonathan Vaughters, general manager of EF Education, even mentions that it's been a good Tour as Cort won and in the process he contradicts himself and this documentary.
There are multiple examples like that and of editorial choices to steal shots from a mountain stage where fatigue is obvious and then splice it into another, earlier stage to construct a conflict and thusly drama.
So, my overall point is that the Tour does not need this kind of dishonesty - it's abundant with drama. It's one of the most suspenseful events on the sports calendar and it's widely believed that 2022 was a new high point. Had the 2022 edition been a wine it would be invaluable. So why cheat? Why rob sporting heroes of their achievements by editing them out? I'll let others answer that and just conclude that if you're already a bit of connoisseur, then this is most likely not for you. And if you're considering watching this series and haven't any real knowledge of pro cycling and the Tour de France, then by all means enjoy it but be aware that reality is much wilder and more dramatic than this soap-operatic endeavor.