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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Sport
Lawrence Ostlere

When cycling meets ‘war games’ – Tour de France: Unchained revitalises Netflix’s well-worn format

A.S.O./Pauline Ballet

An empty chair in a dark room. A bearded man with a distinctly European flavour walks in and sits down, stares directly into the camera and introduces himself. He explains why this race is the biggest and the best, why it means everything, why the stakes are so high he might be shot or beheaded or at the very least sacked if he loses.

It cuts to his home in a beautiful rural location where his beautiful family are sitting around a beautiful old table having dinner, and they discuss the peril of his job. Then it cuts to the race, and his voice is describing the teammate he doesn’t really like, and on screen that teammate is beating him, or double-crossing him, or just looking a bit shifty.

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