A Tour de France documentary series on Netflix? It may happen
Report in the 'The Telegraph' indicates Netflix, Tour organizers ASO, and eight top-tier teams could collaborate in next streaming smash.
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If you thought the Movistar documentary series on Netflix was good, you could be in for a treat sometime very soon.
Reports in The Telegraph suggest discussions are underway between the Netflix streaming giant, Tour de France organizers ASO, and eight of the world’s biggest teams in the hopes of creating your next box-set binge.
The rumored fly-on-the-wall-style docu-series would cover the mouthwatering match-up between Tadej Pogačar and Primož Roglič at this summer’s Tour.
Also read: Netflix’s Movistar documentary is must-see TV for any bike racing fan
Ineos Grenadiers, Jumbo-Visma, Movistar, and Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl are among the eight WorldTour teams said to be at the negotiations. It is unknown if the inaugural Tour de France Femmes will be covered, or if teams like Movistar and Jumbo-Visma would be providing access to both its men’s and women’s programs.
The series is slated to be produced by Box to Box Films, the company that brought the team rivalries and quirky characters of Formula 1 into our lounges to mass success through its smash hit Drive to Survive series.
A Tour de France-insider serial would be the latest in pro cycling’s dabblings with documentary-style insight.
Aussie squad GreendEdge broke new ground with its “Backstage Pass” YouTube shorts in the middle of the last decade, giving way to bigger-budget productions by the likes of Jumbo-Visma and classics chiefs Flanders Classics in recent years.
The momentum truly tipped when the Movistar El Día Menos Pensado series brought viewers behind-the-scenes access to the Spanish squad in a popcorn-munching run of team tantrums, staffer dramas, and in-race footage across two seasons of racing.
Dynamics between the likes of Alejandro Valverde, Marc Soler, and Enric Mas were laid bare in a way that the world had not seen before – and it went down a storm. The turbulent fallout between the team and temperamental Colombian Miguel Ángel López is set to take center stage in the upcoming third installment of the series.
Something similar for the world’s biggest bike race could propel the sport to a new level of engagement and following, just as Drive to Survive did for F1.
The finances of any possible Tour de France-Netflix collab is reported to be one of the final ruts being negotiated as parties look to close a deal in the coming weeks.
Here’s hoping it happens. A multi-team, wide-angle insight into the busses, beefs, triumphs, and torments of this July’s Tour de France could be just as awesome as the racing itself.