A professional cyclist weighs in on the accuracy of Netflix's Tour de France: Unchained

25:00Are sports documentaries manufacturing drama?

In recent years, Netflix has released several docuseries that offer viewers an inside look at the world of professional sports — from soccer and golf, to cycling and F1 racing.

The aim of these shows is to bring in new fans, but some insiders say when the series are presented like a sporty reality show, it misses the point of sports entirely.

Professional cyclist Michael Woods joins host Elamin Abdelmahmoud to share his opinion on Netflix's series Tour de France: Unchained — a race he has competed in himself three times.

We've included some highlights below, edited for length and clarity. For today's full show, which includes a panel with sports journalists on the critiques of Netflix's recent sports docuseries, listen and follow the Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud podcast, on your favourite podcast player.

Elamin: It's so cool of you to make time for us. I'd imagine it's pretty intense right now before the Tour starts. How are you feeling?

Michael: Yeah, it's hectic but I'm excited.

Elamin: So I've got to ask you: what did you think of this documentary series, Tour de France: Unchained?

Michael: I really enjoyed it…. I'm so involved in the sport, but I wasn't sure what other people thought of it outside of the sport. But it's cool to hear that you said it was intense because I think it captured how full-on the racing is.

Elamin: Let me reassure you, if you're not in the sport and you watch this thing, then mostly you're watching it with your mouth on the floor, For anyone who hasn't seen it, it is unbelievably intense: the crashes on the cobblestone, the crashes on bridges over the ocean, riders keep going with torn muscles. There's also this vantage point from the riders where you're all kind of, jammed in together in the course. And to me I'm like, I don't know what it would be like to be in there. And then what this documentary does is put you there. There's also those like aerial shots of the switchbacks, which are really sharp corners. Everything about it looks unreal to me. When you were watching it, were you like, "Yeah, this seems about right." Or did it feel a little bit distorted?

Michael: No, I think it actually felt pretty accurate. I think they did a good job of getting involved and getting close up to the teams. I have a pretty unique perspective on the sport in the sense that I just came into it so late; I didn't have a conventional start compared to most European pros, and so I've always felt like I had a bit of this imposter syndrome.

WATCH | Official trailer for Netflix's Tour de France: Unchained:

When I have been at the races, that intensity is really weird to me — how intense the racing is, and how normal it is to other guys — and so watching the documentary capture that, I felt like, "Wow, this is how I feel every day."

Elamin: One thing that the documentary makes clear is, "Look at this beautiful course," but also, "Look at all it's witness to" — all this suffering, all this pain, all the intensity of what cyclists go through. I think one thing you understand from watching the show is how cycling really is a team sport. It's not a bunch of people who are just trying to get to the finish line first. Also, the built-in tension [of] these big personalities — the riders who are not necessarily happy with how they come across, right?

Michael: Yeah, totally. There's a lot of politics to it. Within every team, there's decisions that have to be made. We have 29-man rosters and only eight riders are selected for the Tour de France. There's politics involved. There's sponsors that want certain riders racing, and it comes to a head sometimes at the Tour, particularly, because it's just the big show. We get almost a billion viewers every year, and you feel that.

Elamin: I like that you called it "the big show," because the cameras are going to be rolling again this year on this year's tour. Do you think that affects the dynamics at all of how people perform?

Michael: For sure. The average professional race is about 70 race days a year, so it's not just the 21 days of the Tour de France. When you're racing at every other race, professional cycling is relatively safe. I say "relatively"; it's still quite dangerous, unfortunately.

Elamin: I gotta say, Mike, the intensity of it and you say it's "relatively safe," it made me gasp a little bit.

Michael: Yeah, I mean, that is kind of crazy when I think about it, but it is. Then you enter the Tour de France, and because you're at the Tour de France, there's just that much more pressure, that much more exposure, that much more everything. And you feel that. I don't crash that often, but every Tour de France I've done, I've crashed at least once or twice. And although I'm really excited to do this race coming up, it's the one that scares me the most.

Elamin: We should say, when I said "cameras rolling," I meant those documentary cameras are going to be rolling again. Your team wasn't one of the teams that agreed to be filmed, but I'm wondering, would you personally mind, Mike?

Michael: No, not at all. I think I've been lucky enough to be on a couple teams in my career. Some teams are very keen to have the cameras inside, and this documentary certainly gives your sponsors great exposure and gives fans insight, and makes people excited about the racing. And so for me, I love sharing that and I'd be keen to be a part of it. At the same time, it is awesome to just go on the bus and not worry about whether you can drop an F-bomb or just pull your shorts off or get changed as quickly as possible, not worrying that there's a camera on you, you know? So there's two sides of it, and I'd be happy either way.

Elamin: All right. Let's get back to the race. Right now you are in the mountains of Andorra training for this. What is your goal for this year's Tour?

Michael: For me, a big goal is winning a stage. I haven't won a stage before; I've come close. Last year Hugo Houle, my Canadian teammate — he won a stage, and I was third on that stage, and I really felt like if he wasn't there I had a good shot of winning. So a big goal is to win a stage, but even then I'm secretly hoping I can run a good general classification. I'm in good form. I just came off of a win last week in La Route d'Occitanie, which is a small race in the south of France…. So I'm excited for this race coming up.

Elamin: Mike I'm not supposed to have favorites, but I'm pulling for you, pal. Thank you so much for being on the show today.

Michael: I appreciate it, man.

You can listen to today's full show, which includes a panel with sports journalists on the critiques of Netflix's recent sports docuseries, on CBC Listen or on our podcast, Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud, available wherever you get your podcasts.

Interview with Michael Woods produced by Jess Low.