Is the cancellation of Netflixβs Tour de France documentary series, “Unchained”, another nail in pro cyclingβs coffin? This week, Dan Lloyd breaks down what the end of Unchained means for the sport. Plus, he recaps the Figueira Champions Classic, Tour of Oman, the European Track Championships & Anna van der Breggenβs triumphant return to competition!
β±οΈ Timestamps: β±οΈ
00:00 Welcome to the Racing News Show!
00:27 This week in the world of racing
01:13 “Unchained” Netflix docuseries cancelled
05:27 Tour de la Provence
06:56 Figueira Champions Classic
07:56 Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana
08:58 Clasica de AlmerΓa
09:57 Tour of Oman
10:47 European Track Championships
12:36 Cyclocross News
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What do you think? π€¨ Is this a big deal for cycling? Does it reveal something bigger about the perception of the sport? π΄ββοΈπ Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
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45 Comments
What do you think? π€¨ Is this a big deal for cycling? Does it reveal something bigger about the perception of the sport? π΄ββπ Let us know your thoughts! And the news of Geraint Thomas retiring at the end of this season, came out after we filmed the show!
Would love to know how much the ASO was making on the rights to Unchained coverage of the TDF and how much this was behind the reason of Netflix axing it. π€
I question the motives and the reasoning of anyone who laments cycling not being more like formula 1.
If only people were as concerned about teams getting an equitable share of cycling revenues?
There are plenty of problems cycling needs to address, a netflix series is not one of them.
Very few things survive on Netflix. it is there nature to wreck and destroy. However, the numbers are concerning.
That speed bump crash yet again shows just how much poor control and lack of safety auditing the UCI has over the race organisers and their course selection.
Netflix is like pro tour teams searching for the next Pogacar. They are looking for that next great success, in this case a sports based show, to replicate the viewership they got from Drive to Survive. If you can't match the same success, you get cut…
I believe cycling as a sport would be more popular if there were:
Less riders,
Less teams,
Less and shorter races
I enjoy cycling now but, I love cycling
For people who donβtβ¦the sport needs to be more easily digested & have fewer riders so people can pick and stand behind an athlete more easily.
I think this creation of 3 or so superstars in cycling who win pretty much most things between them I do not believe is going to be exciting in the long run . A bit like formula one will just become a procession
Unchained got me into watching pro cycling. Now I just stick to highlights as itβs impossible to watch otherwise. I canβt think of another sport that is so difficult to watch and also seems to be so protective/sheltered. Unchained ending is really bad for the sport.
Awesome to see Marlen Reusser back in form, after her Long-Covid Horrortrip!
We need 21 races around the world with the top riders like f1. Otherwise itβs a dead sport for TV/viewership.
Ban time trial bikes completely pointless and a barrier to entry as well as more dangerous
Dan, the hour record holder is Vittoria Bussi, not Vittoria Guazzini
I have watched series 1 & 2 of Unchained three times each , and I'm looking forward to series 3, so I'm glad that they are still showing series 3 as planned! I'm gutted there won't be more, but at least I have a long time to get used to the idea that there won't be another series after that!
It is a shame though, because it (and GCN of course!) was definitely a "gateway drug" for me getting into watching racing. It's just a pity that just as I've got into it, it's suddenly got hugely more expensive to watch live racing here in the UK…..
If i was the uci would produce it at a loss. I would not be watching if it was not for that. Boneheaded move.
I agree. And cycling going behind a paywall in the UK WILL NOT help cyclingβs cause. Thanks to the greed at TNT Sports
2nd tier where? Certainly not in Europe. In the US? Know one cares about the US except US. US sports are 2nd tier, gridiron, only played in US, the rest of the world couldn't care less. Baseball, pretty much the same. The most watched annual sporting event in the world? Oh, that would be the Tour de France!
When I first got into cycling I could watch it for hours but that was back in the LA era and they didn't wear helmets and look like robots for hundreds of kilometers. I never watched a Netflix Unchained episode so I'm sure I won't miss them being gone. But as for watching races I just can't sit and watch for hours anymore either. I'm sure there are a load of other people that feel the same, therefore, there's no money to be made. Road bike racing is moving into a down spiral because it's boring to watch a group ride for 200 kilometers and it's gotten to expensive all around. Gravel makes more sense and the cost of entry is more affordable.
You know, F1 made a bold move when their contract was up with NBC sports, they went to ESPN for free. NBC required the deal to be you don't launch f1 tv in the USA, and they were the only ones offering money. Now I understand ESPN pays 75 million $ a year for the rights to F1, and all they do is rebroadcast the Sky sports coverage. My lesson would be that cycling should try taking the loss, packaged the rights to get more viewers for a few years than revenue. The UCI has been live streaming more and more these days, maybe that is what the UCI is doing. Youtube is probably the best spot, you can get it promoted to people likely to watch it who aren't already. It has got to be "on tv" so to speak, which these days is probably better to stream than be on tv.
In North America it is hardly even a sport. If you ride your bike to work you are a communist or killed by an oversized pickup truck. I feel cycling has a decent following in Europe, but nothing like football. If you consider the top salaries of the riders nearing 10M Euros that is about the same as hockey players in the NHL. Top US Football, baseball and basketball players will see in the $50M range. In Europe your top footballers are getting similar money to the top US leagues. I think cycling is unique in it's grand tours, but you have teams sponsored by companies. Other sports have stadiums and folks pay a pretty penny to get in PLUS TV revenue. Cycling really does not have a 'Gate' aside from perhaps a cyclocross race, but even then it's small potatoes. I think the nature of sport should keep it where it is and that is not all bad.
Dan, as much as I would like some good changes in cycling, I don't think i want One cycling to be the one to do it. Need I say that it's a Saudi backed projet ? Remember that in Saudi Arabia, women are not allowed to cycle alone, must be with a man in order to to so. Is that the values we want to bring to cycling ? For me, it's obviously another try at sportswashing human rights abuse.
i think drive to survive is successful is because f1 understands that they are creating a total entertainment spectacle. every aspect of the sport is designed to maximize its entertainment potential. take, for example, the interview panels where force bitter rivals to sit in the same room after the race. this is obviously much easier to do when there is one commercial entity in charge.
cycling's tradition makes it special, but the race organizers need to find a way to work together so that they can sell the rights to the races to broadcasters collectively and coordinate the entertainment aspect of the sport. they also need to find some way to consolidate in a way that helps smaller races continue to operate (and maintain decent safety standards for the riders).
RCS, ASO, Flanders Classics and the rest don't find a way to create some sort of federation, things will get worse. then, the petro states swoop in like they tried to do with golf, which would not be good!
Sadly the huge new paywall on top of the crazy cost of reasonable level bikes is reducing interest just as acceptance of the sport was becoming more mainstream. Big business and marketing got involved and have killed the sport. Cycling is a gritty and tough sport where hard years of training creates the higher level riders. I can already hear the sniping about doping but even if we all doped till we burst it still takes dedication and effort way beyond what most of us can imagine to even reach professional levels of fitness. A Β£15k super bike and a load of drugs wonβt get you a Grand Tour win. Big business and marketing got involved and kit costs rocketed but for many itβs unobtainable or something bought once in a decade. I watched an interview about getting cycle racing more accessible in Africa but the paywall and equipment cost surely spells problems for these plans.
Iβve been following road racing for around 45 years and enjoyed seeing things grow. Iβm not against tech etc and I own a modern disc brake bike and use a smart trainer etc but I think the last couple of years has seen things get ridiculous with far too much money staying with big companies and brands while we canβt afford to even put on a few junior level races. Sad times.
With the accessibility to watch pro cycling and coming higher costs to watch it, this will result in even less watching numbers.
The sport is if we are really honest about it, for the majority too boring to watch. Even for some die-hard cycling fans.
The large grand tours are a highlight to watch because it features also a bit of cultural and historical context.
But only a few watch the whole tour.
Cyclocross and maybe the early classics or one-day races are more entertaining, I would say.
Bring back the HAMMER SERIES, but refined. π
Yes. It is too much of a niche sport. And (Full disclosure: I'm a huge fan, raced multiple decades, lead a club) just seeing the difficulty to get and hold sponsorships tells you all you need to know. The ecosystem just doesn't have enough broad interest to support documentaries, sponsors, races and fan base. Unless you really care about racing and are willing to watch a race for 2 hours which is a lot of riding until about the last 20k… well, it can be boring unless you're incredibly loyal to the sport. Once you get beyond the documentary and watch the sport, well… I think they need to shorten races, remove radios, and make teams (in the race) smaller. = more combative, more exciting.
I watch Chris Horner breakdown of races he does good job. But unless you ride you donβt know what going on in the race.
Don't read too much into the Netflix series cancellation. There are so many high quality shows Netflix produces and cut after a few seasons because they didn't hit a number. The racing calendar is fine. It took me less time to understand the cycling calendar than it took to understand the English football calendar. Cycling's issue is the disparate organization of broadcast rights. Until the race organizers get together and coordinate, the sport outside the Tour de France will continue to be niche. However, getting organizers from many nations to agree on will be like herding cats.
A key difference between the sports and the audiences for "Unchained" and "Drive to Survive". I can watch Formula One on commercial television. If I want to watch the Tour, I have to buy yet another streaming service, and a very specialized one at that. The way race organizers have sold broadcast rights has almost guaranteed a dedicated but very limited audience, and no way to attract new eyeballs.
I watch F1 through F1TV. Simple. One subscription. Everything F1. Until I can buy UCI TV and get all cycling. I mean ALL. Men Women. One day grand tour etc. I will not pay to watch. It will be their own fault that pro cycling dies. Get with the times UCI.
GCN+ was what we all wanted. Still sad
I sadly would put cycling as a 3rd tier sport π’π’π’π’π’π’π’π’π’π’π’π’π’π’
I sadly would put cycling as a 3rd tier sport π’π’π’π’π’π’π’π’π’π’π’π’π’π’
Parents don't want their kids riding on the street.
some of those still picture are Jaw dropping,Β
thank you for giving us the opportunity to see some of the best race photographies.
The thing that's going to kill cycling viewership (along with every other pro sport), especially with younger fans, is the fact that TV organizations make it damn near impossible to watch! It's short sighted money making in the short term while killing it for the next generation.
Just my thoughts and there may be something similar already stated earlier but the use of a points system to decide the World Champion is what is needed. The other sports mentioned, F1, use multiple races and points given for the race finishes. Motorsports championships throughout the world do this. Have the UCI pick out a series of road races throughout the year, lets say 20, and provide points to riders based upon their placement at the end of each race. Also, potentially still have the World Champion based upon a single race but have a new champion called the "UCI Grand Prix Champion".
My problem with Unchained is that it follows the TdF, which usually has a few exciting stages and a lot of long, boring ones. Hard to make a good series about that without resorting to stupid interpersonal drama. I'd rather watch a series about the spring classics. That's the best racing in pro road cycling, IMHO.
Itβs not just Netflix ending their series, itβs also placing any sort of viewing behind a massive paywall. You need a subscription to Max and then an additional subscription to unlock the cycling content. Thatβs not going to bring in new fans either and will put off many current fans
I love GCN; however, it's kinda of hard to argue with Netflix discontinuing Unchained when your own network dropped it's enhanced premium service coverage which I paid for and really enjoyed.
How much is Dan charging for the gun showπͺπΎ Looking great!
No matter what cycling will go on. Riding a bicycle will always be here. Pro cycling or not. The joy of the bicycle is forever.
All pro sports, as well as everything, are being diminished by greed. Especially pro sports. For the βelitesβ now. Not everyday people. The commercialization of everything.
Dan, I really enjoy your insights and commentary.
As far as the cancellation of the Unchained documentary is concerned, it won't really affect me since I don't have a subscription. However I think cycling needs all the help it can get regarding exposure to the general public.
I started following cycling in the US the mid 80s. There were only two races from Europe available on TV in the US: the Tour de France and Paris-Roubaix. I will be eternally grateful to Phil Liggett for being the voice of cycling, and for explaining the intricacies of the sport to an American audience that most likely hadn't grown up following the sport. He also made the stars interesting by explaining their personalities and backgrounds. If the Netflix documentary could fulfill a similar role, then it is indeed a loss.
Honestly, the Netflix series was pretty bad. Not much for story lines, mostly βFxxx, come on come on, Fxxxβ, thatβs not too excitingβ¦couldnβt even watch it with my kids.
Not many people have the time to watch 4-6 hours of one stage, and then the next multiple days' worth of following stages. Criterium racing is more exciting as it's shorter races, which naturally builds more excitement. But youβll never change the classics, the multiple tours, the lead up to the TdF because that's how the sponsors and teams invest their money in the best riders. Cycling will follow the money, hence the new tours – UAE, Oman, etc, but limiting its exposure across television channels isn't going to increase new growth and new passion from young riders.