Summary
A thrilling series follows eight teams competing in the 2022 Tour de France. It’s fast, it’s furious, and it’s fearless.
From the makers of Formula 1: Drive to Survive, Quad Box and Box to Box films have brought to our screens Tour de France: Unchained. We’ve all seen or heard about the intensity of cyclists when it comes to the Tour de France, even the highly loved Tour de Yorkshire, and the passion these riders have.
Across the eight episodes, audiences follow eight cycling teams as they compete in the 2022 installment of the world’s most grueling bike ride.
Tour de France: Unchained Season 1 Review
We’re given access to exclusive, behind-the-scenes footage of the eight groups preparing for the challenge. The groups include AG2R Citroën, Alpecin-Deceuninck, Bora-Hansgrohe, EF Education-EasyPost, Groupama-FDJ, Ineos Grenadiers, Jumbo-Visma, and Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl.
Through personal interviews with riders, team managers, CEOs, and sports journalists, they help explain and showcase the multiple stakes of a race and how the sport has grown so popular it is now broadcasted in 190 territories.
We’re shown the suffering and sacrifice every person makes to make this sport as special as it is. I didn’t realize the dangers of the sport; there are a lot of crashes. In every single episode, there’s an accident of some sort accompanied by dramatic music.
These riders can get seriously injured, and they have such determination and talent to make a comeback, both in and out of the race. We hear about the use of drug use in sports and changing that as the years have gone on.
There are multiple types of footage from races, previous seasons, events boardrooms, and media outlets like the news. Seeing footage from the rider’s body cams drives the intensity of the sport, and the birds-eye views of the racing and the multiple cities are stunning. I can’t imagine being a spectator, they’re so fast you’d get a glimpse, and they’d be gone.
My only criticisms are that the voice-over acting is a bit annoying and cheesy at times but bearable, and I would have liked some interactions with fans of the sport to get their interpretation and experience of watching these ground tours live.
It would have been interesting to know what they think this series will do for the sport and where they feel the sport is going in the future.
Is Tour de France: Unchained Season 1 good or bad?
If you’re a sports fan, specifically a cycling fan or enthusiast, this series is well worth the watch.
I’m not the biggest fan of cycling, but because I enjoyed the F1: Drive to Survive series, I wanted to give this a chance, and I’m glad I did. I will say that I learned a lot from this series, and I look forward to season two.
Is Tour de France: Unchained Season 1 worth watching?
The series is exhilarating. The episodes are filled with action, information, and intense footage.
I think this series is very good. The episodes don’t feel long or drawn out, and with a runtime of roughly forty minutes each, it’s easy to binge.
What did you think of the Netflix documentary series Tour de France: Unchained Season 1? Comment below.
There was a level of cringe to the Voice-Over acting and in a number of cases the comments made did not make sense so there was no way the interpretation was correct.
I got the feeling that the producers were not true fans of cycling as they didn’t really get the magnitude of some of the key moments in the race and the implication that all David Gaudu had to do to reach the podium was overtook Thomas on Stage 19 when he was over 5 minutes behind on aggregate was ordinary.
I think there is potential for the series to create some tension within teams when riders see how they are spoken about by their Team Leaders, Directors and Team Principals when they are not in the room. I wonder how Wort Van Aert will react to the way he was spoken about – if I was competing with Jumbo Visma I would be using that info and going after him.
I am a fan of Cycling and the Tour so I enjoyed the series however there is huge room for improvement.
Drive to Survive would not have made new F1 fans by focusing on the intricacies of laminar flow and CAD design, so I’m glad for Unchained they again focused on the main players, their motivations, and the drama in the teams. It makes for an amazing story and as a fan of cycling that’s what makes the sport great.
The voice over acting was excruciating. In the end, I had to abandon the show to save my sanity.