With the massive success of Netflix’s Formula 1: Drive to Survive, it was only a matter of time before the streamer tried grafting that ultra-access, behind-the-scenes formula to other sports.
Lucky for us, cycling was their next target.
Just a few days after announcing the title of the hotly anticipated series, its first trailer has been released. The French title, Tour de France: Au Coeur du Peloton (Tour de France: Inside the Peloton), appears at the at the end of the two-minute-and-nineteen-second of the trailer for what will be titled Tour de France: Unchained here in America (and likely in other English-speaking nations).
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The trailer was unveiled at the conclusion of Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters’ Tuesday afternoon keynote speech at Barcelona’s Mobile World Congress. Escape Collective tweeted out the trailer on Tuesday. Watch it below.
Details on the series are still scant, with most of the information coming via rumor mills, word-of-mouth, or trickling bits of official information. What we do know is that the series will consist of eight episodes, with each—like Drive to Survive—focusing on a different team who agreed to be involved with the project: AG2R Citroën, Alpecin-Fenix, Bora-Hansgroe, EF Education-EasyPost, Groupama-FDJ, Ineos Grenadiers, Jumbo-Visma, and QuickStep-AlphaVinyl.
One notable absence from that list is UAE Team Emirates, home of two-time Tour de France winner Tadej Pogačar, as the team declined to participate in the series. But Pogačar makes at least three appearances in the trailer, so you can rest assured that, while an episode won’t feature his team, the young Slovenian superstar should very much be present in the series. It’d be hard to tell the story of the Tour de France without the rider who has finished first, first, and second over the last three Tours.
Keen eyes will also notice the seemingly odd inclusion of Julian Alaphilippe’s spectacular over-the-bars crash at last year’s Strade Bianche in the trailer. But we can only assume that will be part of an episode’s backstory.
Several sources have posited a June airdate, leading right into this summer’s Tour. Here’s hoping that the Tour de France Femmes gets a similar documentary sometime soon.
Michael Venutolo-Mantovani is a writer and musician based in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. He loves road and track cycling, likes gravel riding, and can often be found trying to avoid crashing his mountain bike.
