"After a passage about the death of Gino Mäder, the text No Risk, No Reward appears" - Thijs Zonneveld outraged by Tour de France: Unchained

Since this week, a new season of 'Tour de France: Unchained' has been available on Netflix. The series closely follows selected teams and riders in last year's Tour of France. Journalist Thijs Zonneveld is not a fan of how the series portrays certain aspects of cycling. In an attempt to pleasure masses, the show effectively goes against recent efforts to improve safety attributes of cycling.

"After fifteen minutes of the first episode of season 2, I already knew enough," Zonneveld writes in his AD column. "What I find really shocking is the way they portray cycling as crash porn. And I haven't even mentioned the unfounded doping accusations and factual inaccuracies," he continues his complaint. "And the interviews that have been cut and pasted together, in which riders are put all kinds of things into the mouths that they have not said."

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According to the BEAT Pro Cycling rider, there is no nuance whatsoever in the Netflix series and safety is a non-issue: "After a passage about the death of Gino Mäder, the text No Risk, No Reward appears. As if it it's tough to kill yourself."

"The Netflixization of cycling was supposed to make the race sexy and spectacular," he continues. "But as long as the media portrays falls in every possible way and uses them as a teaser, something goes horribly wrong. This has nothing to do with sports, but with schadenfreude. Sitting on your couch with a box of popcorn and watching men in Lycra suits punch their faces. That is not the audience you should be waiting for as a sport."

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