Tour de France Unchained (Netflix)

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120833999#Comment_120833999

Call backs and Easter eggs are all the rage now so I would expect a Dennis Quaid cameo.

Macy0161

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120833850#Comment_120833850

Isn't that what Drive to Survive et al are already? I can live with this type of fiction having followed pro-cycling through the 1990's!

mewso

Anyone watching series 2? I'm enjoying it but I suspect some riders won't be happy. Ben O'Connor comes across as mentally weak and Pidcock as a bit of a child. I suspect much of this is down to the framing by the show makers though. 5 episodes in the highlight for me is Pello Bilbao.

Jnealon

Dont forget Jasper Disaster, I feel the editors are going out of their way to paint some of the riders in a poor light.

I like O'Connor, not a fan of Philipsen, you wouldn't want him on your group spin, he'd take you out.

The international commentary feed is brutal

gn3dr

I'm 4 episodes in - enjoying it again this year.

Ben O Connor isn't coming out looking great so far - I don't think it is all framing by the editors though - like the bit where he shouts fcuk into his mic when he was getting dropped - that was just daft. Even his support guys had the conversation about it in the car.

Quigs Snr

Season 2 was interesting. They did go out of their way to make Philipsen look like a dangerous muppet… but honestly, if you are contesting bunch sprints even at amateur level you need a bit of that. Very few top sprinters are not ruthless.

I was surprised in episode 6 at just how overtly they were rolling their eyes at Vingegaard putting 3 minutes into Van Aert in a TT. They came really close to accusing him of doping. As did the entire cycling world. I was surprised at how close to putting something unambiguously libellous out there the producers went. Between that and Klugge openly saying he was going to take attention off the Jumbo doping discussion by calling out FDJ for hitting the beers… well there was certainly a bit more spice than I expected.

The sections on Pinot were nicely done. Between the poetic wisdom, emotion and fishing with croissants they literally could not have made him more French. Pogacar also came across quite well I thought. He seems to be much better liked in the peloton than Vingegaard.

Paddigol

Just finished it. Really enjoyed it, for what it is. Nico's contributions are hilarious… basically just shots of him scribbling stuff on a piece of paper.

I like Jasper… they obviously went with an angle of trying to make him the bad guy, but I like him.

JV seem dull as f**k.

Christoph Roodhooft seems like a thoroughly dislikeable fella.

Ben O'Connor also suffered from Netflix's attempts to make a story out of him, but I think he comes across well overall.

Highlights for me were; Marc Madiot/ FDJ, Alaphilippe, Bramati and reminding me of Matej Mohoric's interview after his stage win.

If it's still available I might watch season 1 again.

happytramp

I feel like it was much stronger than the first season. The drama and various inter team dynamics came across quite well on an episode to episode quite well and didn't seem quite as transparently manufactured as last season.

Weepsie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122268099#Comment_122268099

Ah there was plenty of commentary on here last year too. He didn't get punished for what others have been punished for in the past and some got punished in the same race for lesser offences. One was particularly bad, he changed his line twice

casion3

I agree it was more interesting that last year.

The relationship between MvP and Jaspar, like 2 teen agers let out for the week end!

The Ineos bit was amazing. How Pidcock thinks he could be anywhere near winning the tour is beyond me. And why that team insists on turning classic riders inti Grand tour winners. If the left G Thomas alone he woukd have multiple classics by now rather than 2 Tour. (Off topic I know.)

I doesn't seem like Pidcock will be able to get a team to work for him anyway if he is that selfish.

No surprise that Ben O C is leaving AG2R. They lost faith in him.

What's the background to the Irish coach on that team?

Policy seemed, cool, honest and loves his cycling. (See Signa sports cafe ride interview for further evidence) JV seems manufactured and unnaturally skinny.

Quigs Snr

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122284684#Comment_122284684

The Irish coach is Stephan Barrett from Fermoy who was an above average elite / international rider about 15 years ago. I remember him doing about 150km solo on a Ras stage once. He was with Aquablue for a while too.

CramCycle

Only the first episode in and its miles better than last year. The voiceovers are comical. Also Julians comments about being too expensive for Pat nearly made me spit out my morning cup of tea.

Paddigol

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122286195#Comment_122286195

I really love Alaphilippe… I think he has the measure of Pat… would love to seem him at FDJ.

casion3

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122286195#Comment_122286195

He is a great guy. If you look up panache in the dictionary there is a picture of Alaphilippe.

I use the subtitles and original language (French) the over dub last year was distracting, much better in their original language.

gn3dr

Yes - has to be watched in original language with subtitles!

CramCycle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122288562#Comment_122288562

I will do so for episode 2, they don't even try to match the voices, it is uncomfortable and I am pretty sure they changed voice actors for at least one person half way through the episode

Weepsie

Cant we all agree that the Jumbo Visma sporting director (don't think he is ds and has a different title) is actually Guy Pearce

CramCycle

Carlos: There is a list of adjectives to describe Tom.

Well that man is more of a diplomat and a gent than anyone else interviewed so far.

Episode 5 at the minute, still miles ahead of season 1. Certainly more balanced than it but not quite there and still a lot of editing to suit a narrative over the truth, I think a lot of the riders are not as media savvy as they think they are. Although I wouldn't be savvy about anything after one stage of the tour, let alone multiple.

Paddigol

I started re-watching The Least Expected Day again at the weekend - the production of that series was immense. Really well put together. A level above the Netflix series. I forgot how comical the Movistar set up was/ is 😂 But the honesty of the finished product is superb.

CramCycle

Finished it there, still way better than season 1. I don't like the cutting back and forth, and the insertion of soundbites from riders at an unrelated time to make it sound like they were saying something they weren't. Also they managed to paint Cav in a nice fashion, he came off really well which is something I have never said before.

JMcL

Binged this today having been floored by some virus that swears it isn't COVID since the weekend.

Much better than the first season, the fact that the big boys are now at the table avoiding the "how come it was won by some guy only mentioned in passing?" of the 1st one. It's a step up in almost every other way as well.

Pinot, JA and Marc Madiot very likeable, as indeed was Cav. Pidcock, O'Connor, like spoiled brats and Phillipson just downright dangerous. The omerta was skimmed very close as has been said, and Madiots final "I gave you your answer" intriguing

CramCycle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122302560#Comment_122302560

O'Connor came good by the end of the season, but this is one of the reasons I hate non sequential editing. The responses from Ben, seeing as he appears to be a nice guy at the end could have been to questions that were not in line with the clips.

Paddigol

I don't think the series was fair at all on O'Connor, Pidcock or Philipsen. I don't mind as it's the nature of the beast and the series is a welcome addition. But again, I think the Movistar series was actually a much slicker, authentic production. Netflix are obviously trying to copy and paste the Drive to Survive formula, so be it.

billyhead

JAP is a bit of a poser/shaper. His other half is stunning looking. Its a dog eat dog world as a sprinter so I didn't mind Philipsens arrogance and determination.

JMcL

I'm wondering how much of it is staged at a considerably later date? There are a couple of scenes with wood burning stoves going at a rate of knots - one with Jasper Philipson throwing a log on supposedly a week before the Tour and another with one of the teams supposedly discussing the next days tactics during the race. I was in France in July last year and it was toastie.

steve_r

I watched last season with next to zero cycling knowledge. After watching season 1, I did follow the TDF last year on a daily basis, so I was relatively familiar with some of the main topics that would come up in season 2.

It's quite striking how different the experience of watching this is versus following the event itself. I've seen this effect before with these Netflix sports drama (DTS, 6N), and even as an outsider to the sport, I can still spot the re-recorded commentary and the agressive editing to support a plot point.

There was a point above saying that some of the cyclists don't appear to be very media savvy, and I think that there's a lot of truth in that for the likes of Ben O'Conner and Tom Pidcock. Cavendish does come across well as do a few of the others. I feel O'Conner and Pidcock were a bit naive to talk so openly about team issues in their interviews, and not to consider how it could be edited and presented. In contrast, I saw a lot of the cyclists show their personal stories - but crucially refrain from saying anything that could rebound on them, or be taken out of context. I saw the rugby players do this as well - the likes of Andrew Porter would share a lot of personal stuff on the 6N - which gives the program makers the "inside track" they are looking for, but doesn't give the producers rope to hang the interviewee with. Perfectly happy for people to do this, I do think individuals do need to be very careful when it comes to programs like this.

As a piece of entertainment I found this really compelling, but I do think there is a darkness and a cynicism there, and this is not a program that has the best interests of the sport at heart. The program looks for conflict and failure as a means to drive drama - there's far more focus on cyclists failing rather than cyclists succeeding. Contrast that to my experiences following the TDF itself, where the coverage would focus a lot more on the success stories rather than the failures. I also feel some of the teams were encouraged to air their dirty laundry about disappointing team performances and strategy consequences. Whatever your views on Pidcock and O'Conner, I think allowing the cameras to see those discussions was foolish by the teams involved.

I think the discussion on the Time Trial were quite stark -by showing all the accusatory tweets they effectively told us what they felt the story should be about. Again I do feel a more sober, nuanced broadcaster would have treated that subject with more care (regardless of the rights and the wrongs), and showing it in that sensationalist view is a cynical move on their part. 

Paddigol

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122309255#Comment_122309255

That's a pretty good take on it. I think the producers probably didn't hide what their intentions were and basically said to the teams, either let us have free reign or we won't bother. Team owners are desperate to broaden the commercial scope of the sport, so probably felt that the pros outweighed the cons. I'd like to see it refined a bit though. And get rid/ sort out the fake commentary team.

If you haven't watched it, check out the Movistar series (The Least Expected Day) on Netflix and the Quickstep one on Amazon (can't remember the name of it - Wolfpack or something?) - both better productions than the TDF series albeit with a more limited scope/ viewpoint.

Weepsie

Pretty sure Visma have done a one off one this year too on YouTube.

steve_r

Yeah I will watch the other shows at some stage, but probably after watching the actual TDF - the more knowledge I have going in, then the more I'll get out of it.

Paddigol

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122310278#Comment_122310278

The dullest team in the peloton… oh just think of the japes we'll be treated to 😂

Edit: I'd love to see EF do a proper Movistar-style one…