Further details of the upcoming Netflix Tour de France docuseries have emerged this week, including a release in early June.
An exact date for the show to become available has yet to be confirmed, but it was indicated at the CannesSeries festival that it will launch during the Critérium du Dauphiné race, which gets underway on Sunday June 4.
CannesSeries, the television festival linked to the famous Cannes Film Festival, is taking place this week, and the new Tour de France special was on the bill on Monday.
Guests were shown the first episode of the series in its entirety, which revolved primarily around the QuickStep-AlphaVinyl team.
The non-selection of French star Julian Alaphilippe is reportedly covered, as well as Yves Lampaert's shock stage 1 win and Fabio Jakobsen's victory the following day, framed within the context of his comeback from a life-threatening crash in 2020.
"We tried to work on the boundary between documentary and cinema, looking for personalities and where they come from," series producer Yann Le Bourbouac'h told RMC.
"With Fabio, we tried to show that he almost died two years ago and that two years later he's riding his first Tour de France and wins a stage. We had some luck but we were there to find it."
RMC Sport also aired takes from neutral observers inside the auditorium, with one saying he was "truly immersed and gripped by the intensity of the race", and another highlighting the "incredible theatricality".
The Ouest France newspaper had a reporter present, who revealed the room was "far from full" but noted that those there seemed impressed. The writer felt there was a "slightly too pronounced penchant for crashes" but acknowledged the on-board cameras on bikes and team cars offered an insight into the tactics of the sport as well as allowing viewers "to feel the adrenaline of the race."
The Netflix cameras went behind the scenes with eight of the 22 teams that made up the 2022 Tour de France, including the Jumbo-Visma outfit of eventual winner Jonas Vingegaard, plus Ineos Grenadiers, Groupama-FDJ, EF Education-EasyPost, Alpecin-Fenix, Bora-Hansgrohe, and AG2R Citroën Team.
The series, made by the Quadbox production company, will comprise eight episodes and will be shown in 190 territories around the world. The title of the English-language version is 'Tour de France: Unchained', while in France it will be 'Tour de France: Au cœur du peloton' ('Inside the peloton').
Netflix reportedly covered the production costs of €8 million to make the series, paying a €1 million fee to the different parties involved. Tour de France organiser ASO and host broadcaster France Televisions both netted €250,000 each. The eight teams shared the remaining €500,000, giving each team €62,000 ($67,000).
Earlier this year, the official trailer emerged at the Mobile Live World Congress, which you can watch in the clip below.
