2023-06-29 15:54:57
Tennis, rugby, cycling… Since “Formula 1: Drive to survive”, all sports disciplines want their immersive series to win over a new audience. And the Netflix formula seems to work with “Tour de France: at the heart of the peloton”, released in early June on the streaming platform.
Tudum. Before taking up residence in Bilbao from where it will start on Saturday June 30, the Tour de France has already settled on the small screen since the beginning of the month. Broadcast on Netflix, the documentary series “Tour de France: In the heart of the peloton”, shot during the 2022 edition, tells over eight episodes the small and big stories of the Great Loop: the victories and the disappointments, the falls and the big breakaways, the riders and the grandiose landscapes, the pain and the fervor… Everything that makes the salt of the biggest bike race in the world.
“It was our bet with Netflix and ASO [l’organisateur de la course] and France TV [le diffuseur international]. We wanted to speak to purists and tourists by discovering cycling from another angle,” explains Yann Le Bourbouac’h, one of the series’ producers and a big fan of cycling.
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A soap opera, characters and cliffhangers
A formula already proven in “Drive to survive”, the series behind the scenes of Formula 1 which now serves as a standard meter for Netflix productions for documentary series on sport. As in the big sister who abandoned the fight for the title in the first seasons, “At the heart of the peloton” is less interested in the quest for the yellow jersey than in the little stories that make up the great adventure of the Tour de France.
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“We are looking for characters”, explains the producer. “It was necessary to identify the right people capable of representing the range of characters existing in the bicycle”.
“The Netflix touch is to apply techniques of the order of cinema and series to a sports narration. We convince the viewer of the absolute necessity of watching the next episode with the logic of the soap opera and the cliffhanger. C is to choose the right customers and it is also the art of editing and being there at the right times to capture the little phrases and slices of life”, analyzes Jean-Philippe Danglade, full professor of marketing at Kedge Business School and head of the master’s degree in sports management.
The camera thus lingers on the journey of sprinter Fabio Jakobsen, “resuscitated” after a serious fall; on Thibaut Pinot, who evokes the pressure of being French on the Tour; on former dope Jonathan Vaughters and his EF Education Easy-Post team. Even well-known cycling protagonists, such as the volcanic manager of Groupama-FDJ Marc Madiot, appear in a new light.
“In France, Madiot is known. But we wanted to go beyond that. We know his passion, but who knows how he works with his riders? We had to translate that into the image. We take our characters as men and we try to show how this translates in the race”, says Yann Le Bourbouac’h.
Everyone wants their series
To allow the Netflix teams to tell these destinies and the race from the inside, the organizers have “opened the doors wide”, underlines Julien Goupil, media and partnerships director at Amaury Sport Organization (ASO).
“It’s a long-term project, the first contacts date from 2018,” he says. “It was we who took the initiative with the aim of reaching the widest possible audience. Not necessarily to rejuvenate the audience, but to broaden it. And we are very happy with the result”.
Formula E, Moto GP, rugby, tennis, cricket… Today, all sports seem to want their series and benefit from the same facelift as Formula 1. “There was a before and an after” Drive to survive”, for Formula 1. The discipline was declining in terms of interest due to multiple factors. The series made it possible to conquer a new audience. People who were not necessarily interested in it then watched the races”, praises Jean-Philippe Danglade.
For the marketer, it is therefore logical that promoters and organizers come to Netflix to promote their sport: “They hope to increase their audience, broaden their target and renew the generations of spectators. These often old sports disciplines are in competition in the battle for attention with streaming platforms, e-sport…”
Faced with this competition, he considers it logical that the organizers try to join forces with them to take advantage of their know-how and try to win over their often young and international audience.
The formula sometimes fails. For example, that of “Breakpoint”, a series behind the scenes of tennis and the ATP and WTA season. The second part was released in June. In the opinion of critics and the public, the series does not find the magic of “Drive to survive”, between lazy editing, uninteresting rhythm and lack of novelty on the sides.
“The formula can be duplicated: this idea of getting to know the athletes better off their field. It can be applied to anything and everything, provided you make the right choices”, judge Jean-Philippe Danglade.
For “In the heart of the peloton”, only eight teams have agreed to play the game, without any right of inspection on the final result. Including before the race, to allow Netflix cameras to follow the athletes in their preparation or in their private lives. And most are satisfied with the final product, like Julien Jurdie, sporting director of AG2R-Citroën, who welcomed the cameras:
“A lot of people who don’t know anything about it will jump on it. But it’s very important for cycling to welcome this type of project with open arms and to develop”, enthuses French in L’Équipe. “I hope it will put the hair straight on the arms of the kids who will look at it and say to themselves: ‘Damn, cycling is great, it makes you vibrate, it’s a fun sport’!”.
F1 also had its share of refractories in season 1 – the behemoths Mercedes and Ferrari. In cycling, Tadej Pogacar’s team, UAE Emirates refused, but must now regret their choice in view of the fallout. Enough to change the minds of the refractory, in view of a probable season 2.
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