Fresh hints about Tour de France Netflix documentary, with talks of a second season
Producers confirmed the highly anticipated series will debut in early June, and that there's talk of a second season to focus more on the action and tactics of racing.
Heading out the door? Read this article on the new Outside+ app available now on iOS devices for members! Download the app.
More hints of what’s in store for the upcoming Netflix Tour de France documentary were revealed at a recent TV festival.
The highly anticipated series — set to be called “Tour de France: Into the Heart of the Peloton” — is expected to be released in June during the Critérium du Dauphiné.
Many inside cycling are hoping the high-profile series released internationally will have a similar impact as the “Formula 1: Drive to Survive” series that lifted the profile of the auto racing format.
Yet one of the top producers said the cycling series will be very dissimilar to the car racing program.
“The idea is not to look like it because that would not pay homage to cycling. Cycling is so different from Formula 1,” Yann Le Bourbouac’h, one of the series producers, told RMC Sport. “If only in production, you have to understand that Formula 1 is a championship where you follow one race and then another. You can adjust your narrative arcs.
“The Tour de France does not wait for you. It’s different work, it’s different stories,” he said. “It’s true that the means implemented may seem similar. But it would be wrong to say that it’s the same thing. It’s not possible because the Tour de France is not the same story or the same characters.”
Also read:
- Why UAE Emirates said ‘no’ to Netflix
- Lefevere confirms details on Netflix project, preliminary filming set to start soon
- Netflix story lines we want to see
A preview of the series was unveiled Monday at Canneséries, a television festival that draws some of the industry’s big hitters.
The eight-part series promises to lift the lid on what it takes to be a WorldTour-level pro, with its many highs and lows. With unprecedented access to team buses, hotels, and inside team cars, producers hope to reveal the drama and emotions that go into elite bike racing.
Last year, eight teams participated in the series, and TV production crews followed some of the key races and preparation camps ahead of the 2022 Tour de France.
Have you seen the sneak peek of the Netflix Tour de France series yet 👀😍🇫🇷 Find out more 👉🏻 https://t.co/4eq2Jg3snH pic.twitter.com/PkoHxtJbCM
— BikeRadar (@bikeradar) March 9, 2023
Producers revealed that one episode will focus on Soudal Quick-Step (Quick-Step Deceuninck in 2022), and the team’s struggles with Julian Alaphilippe, the return of Fabio Jakobsen, and its yellow jersey ride in the opening time trial in Copenhagen.
“We try to work on the borders of documentary and cinema so we will look for the characters and see where they come from,” Le Bourbouac’h said. “With Fabio, we tried to show that he had almost died [in 2020 at Tour de Pologne] and two years later he is doing his first Tour de France and winning a stage. We were a little lucky but we went to look for it.”
Other teams play a major role across the series, including EF Education-EasyPost, Jumbo-Visma, with eventual winner Jonas Vingegaard and Wout van Aert, as well as Thibaut Pinot, the underdog favorite at Groupama-FDJ.
Producers also confirmed that negotiations are underway to create a second year of the series, with a deeper focus on the racing and action of the Tour de France in a pivot away from the personal stories.