Was it? He rode away on stage 4 and left vineegard behind. He won by something like 20 seconds. He could have gave up 1-3sec let him latch on. I do believe that in the big picture, wout is for the team, but in the early stages he could just as easily serve himself since he had a great chance to win many stages.
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I agree and the GC isn’t won on the last bit of that early stage.
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I binged the whole thing today flying back from FNLD GRVL….enjoyable, but I wasn’t really blown away. Clearly not made for the serious fan but to try and hook casual viewers (similar to what DtS did for F1).
The French journalist was very annoying….he was just one cliche after another. The best bits for me were the behind-the-scenes stuff, the material we had not seen before. Some of the on bike camera shots were awesome.
I’ll give it a 7/10 overall.
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I’m surprised how many people, who are TDF fans already, were expecting to see something new or different.
It’s like watching Neal Degrasse Tyson talk about “the secrets of the universe” and criticizing it because it’s not like watching Hawking give a lecture.
I think you have to look at it through the lens of the casual sports fan who just wants to see speed and aggression. I think they nailed that. I wish I knew a place to go look for opinions from those who aren’t already avid cycling fans.
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Agree. If Drive to Survive is the predecessor, then this is about introducing the sport to a new audience.
My guess on the lack of explaining the different jerseys, etc. is that the series looks like it was created initially for the French market. There may already be more awareness than in the US.
That said, I do feel I learned new things. The insights into the team interactions were very helpful. The show also has the advantage of framing content based on the outcomes. When you are watching the races live, no one knows how it’s going to end so you don’t get he same level of story telling. Not better or worse, just a different view point.
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Yeah, I think that’s what someone else meant above when they said it’s more like “reality tv” than documentary
One other thing…it seems pretty clear, IMO, that the French play-by-play was done after the fact and for the purposes of the series. That kinda bugged me….but DtS is also known for heavy editing for dramatic purposes.
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Wow, those AG2R guys.
Cue French accent: “Come on Ben. Putin! You can ride through a torn muscle. I’ve seen miracles happen in the Tour. Putin! It’s just a flesh wound.”
And the tattoo show was weird!
Cycling zealots!!
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I was in disbelief when they came in after the ultrasound and said, “great news, no fracture”… After we all just saw them talk about the torn muscle.
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My heart broke for him right then. Let the guy rest! My wife asked me how many days off they have between stages … Not many!
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I gave up on educating noncyclists. The numbers are too big and stop making sense pretty quickly.
1,000 feet in a day is a lot for a noncyclist. Forget about 1,000 feet in a single climb. Definitely forget about 3,000+ feet in a single climb. 10,000+ in a day? 10,000+ per day on back to back days? It’s all the same… “a lot” vs “a lot” vs “a lot”.
JMHO.
I thoroughly enjoyed the documentary.
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Cdn living France here. I hear what you say about Pinot, but his mindset I think resonates a lot with the collective French psyche. Contrary to the ‘arrogant’ stereotype, I find the French as a whole are very hard on themselves (as a population) and their country.
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I’ve only watched the first 2 episodes, but having followed the cobbled stage eagerly on France 2 live, the JV fiasco sounds awfully close to what I recall hearing,right down to Marion Rousse correctly identifying it was Vingegaard, not Rogflic, in trouble-she’s known amongst other commentators for her ability to immediately ID riders.
Also I’ve noticed that the French cycling commentary is much more focused on team tactics and rider strengths/weaknesses than the EN coverage I hear on GCN+.
EDIT: just watched ep3, and I see now (or rather hear) what you mean with the France Tele commentator summarizing the dramas - it is kinda annoying. I prefer the edited clips of what actually was said during the event.
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I’ve only seen 4 episodes, but for me, the Pinot segments are hard to watch. I think it takes a very strong psyche to keep going in front of the camera saying “I’m disappointed with myself”, yet stay positive and motivated to go out and suffer again the next day. Now do that multiple years in a row and add the “Great French Hope” and I just really feel for the guy.
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Completely agree. It’s a real contrast with, for example, Roglic’s attitude towards losing the TDF in 2020 on the final TT.
As someone who’s never been a serious competitor, but struggling with my own midlife athletic journey, I need to adopt a Rigluc outlook!
Interestingly, one of the other great French hopes of the past decade, Romain Bardet, does have that ‘only look forward’ attitude…but is nowhere near as popular here as Pinot!
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My take if I was Pinot - “goats and sheep don’t judge!” Dude is living the dream, both on and off the bike.
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I’ve watched all but one episodes so far and must say I’ve enjoyed it. They’re fortunate in that the race last year was a cracker. Having watched tours on and off since Bernard Hinault’s dominance, I think the 2022 edition is one of the best since maybe the LeMond/Fignon battle (I discount early '90s through to when the last of the Armstrong generation disappeared as I can’t truly believe in any of them, and the Sky juggernaut last decade was just boring). Last year’s however had you glued to the screen to see what Wout was going to do that day (the part he played in stage 11 wasn’t acknowledged - Rog would never have been there to help Jonas V without him), Pidcock’s descent of the Galibier and win on the Alpe and the master class in tactics by JV for the GC. The crop of young(ish) riders at the moment, mostly inter-disciplinary, is just outstanding and truly exciting to watch.
I think they’ve probably pitched it just about right, though Id agree that a 2nd series should explain the other jerseys. I do like the extended parts afforded riders you’d only be marginally aware of. Oh, and I don’t buy the cuddly image of Lefebvre (Sam Bennett being a local lad and having been shafted by him!)
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I think most of this commentary was made after the fact for the docudrama.
I’m on episode 7. I’m loving Jasper Disaster. I never knew anything about his personality. Getting to know riders that you never hear speak is the best part of this show. And finally, it gets a payoff with the win for Philipsen.
Marc Madiot and many of these directors drive me crazy. Their motivational speeches are especially annoying. They seem to have a believe that their riders are all weak minded and could win if they could just get over their mental blocks and push harder.
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A really great series by Netflix. Halfway through episode 5 at present and thoroughly enjoying this series, it’s been gripping so far. Even though I know how the stages panned out from watching TDF it’s still fantastic to watch.
I absolutely disagree. Mindset is everything, and the top riders in the world are just as susceptible to psychological coaching and encouragement as amateurs. There’s also an enormous body of research that demonstrates meaningful increases in performance and decreases in perceived RPE from external motivation.
Madiot comes across as passionate and he instils this passion into his riders. As someone who has had to give many of those speeches to stressed, tired and scared soldiers in conflict - he does a damned good job. If anything, Christoph Roodhoft comes across like an absolute toolbag throughout - belittling his riders, demanding that everything be exactly as he “imagines it”, refusing to encourage them; the man has the social skills of a shit-throwing chimp.
That said, the entire series is worth it for two short bits of cinematography.
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Pidcock descending prior to Alp D’Huez (you don’t see as much of that in the live coverage)
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The tracking camera shot of Philipsen on the Champs Elysee.
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