Accusations, praise and a lot of material for discussion: The Netflix series “Tour de France: In the main field” has made the world’s largest cycling race accessible to an even wider audience.
A sign of its success is undoubtedly that the streaming platform has commissioned a second season and the film crews are once again getting exclusive access to the current tour. Not everyone is enthusiastic about the drivers.
script
To maintain continuity, the same eight teams as last year will be there. Among the teams are Bora-hansgrohe and Jumbo-Visma with Tour winner Jonas Vingegaard. The teams will receive around 50,000 euros for this, the organizer ASO and French television will receive five times as much. The second season should be a little more about the private lives of the drivers. “We want to show the people more than the professional cyclist,” said producer James Gay-Rees. There will be eight episodes again, which may be released in 2024 – similar to this year – about a month before the Grand Départ.
exceptions
To have Mark Cavendish’s possible stage record in the series, a team accompanied the British superstar. His team Astana is not one of the eight teams that the series revolves around. The filmmakers will not be able to tell the record of a total of 35 tour stage wins. Cavendish retired after a crash on stage eight. At least that’s a dramatic story.
Critical
As in the Formula 1 series “Drive to Survive”, the creators are accused of overdoing things. Belgian star Wout van Aert in particular feels misrepresented. The series gives the impression that he’s more concerned with his own interests than teammate Vingegaard’s Tour win. “For me, the series is aimed at excitement,” said van Aert. Bora professional Nils Politt agrees: “Exactly the sequences that the viewers want to see were taken. I can completely understand Wout saying that’s not the case and that he doesn’t agree with it. I wouldn’t be in my situation either.”
Lob
Many professionals praise the series and find that cycling is brought closer to the viewer. Above all, the point that cycling is not an individual sport but a team sport is conveyed well. Sprinter Jasper Philipsen sometimes sees himself exaggerated, but praises it: “Of course they created a little bit of a character. But I think they did it well and I have nothing against it.” The Belgian is portrayed in the series as a bumbling professional who tends to forget parts of his equipment or be late.
Doping
Probably the biggest point of criticism is the topic of doping. This is completely hidden. The fact that a driver was subsequently disqualified in Nairo Quintana because a prohibited substance was detected in him does not occur in the series. The Colombian had finished sixth on the 2022 tour.
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