Steve Chainel looks back at his role in Netflix series Unchained: "I am very happy and proud to have been selected"

Steve Chainel, former professional rider and now consultant for Eurosport, has the role of specialist and narrator in this Netflix series Tour de France: Unchained. At the microphone of Eurosport, he returned behind the scenes, his opinion on the final rendering and the criticisms.

"The Netflix production appreciated my profile, the fact that I speak the truth. You had to explain to 'everyman' what cycling is, and for that, you didn't necessarily need a great champion - and I'm not a great champion. I am very happy and proud to have been selected," explains Chainel.

Read also

"He taught me a lot of things; he's a real mentor" - Jonas Vingegaard admits it "won't be the same" without Primoz Roglic at the Tour de France

"I received messages from people who did not necessarily know the bike and who appreciated my interventions. There are also the dissatisfied, those who find that I have vulgarized things a little too much, those who do not find me legitimate, those who say that I did not do the Tour de France. The dissatisfied, I "f*ck them". Let them do what is necessary to take my place. I am an enthusiast who speaks with his heart and his experience and I hope I have spoken to as many people as possible."

"I was a cyclist. When you are a cyclist, you are at the antipodes of wanting to open your house, of wanting to open the door of a training camp, the doors of the bus... This is the sad reality. So for me, the main avenue for improvement is that the riders and the teams let go. Let go! We have to go even further in the stories with the riders, the knowledge of these heroes. We are a sport where there can be emotions, but for that you have to be able to show them and therefore to open up," Chainel concludes.

Read also

Jonathan Vaughters on safety of high speed descents: "I wonder if it’s possible to place Alpine ski race style netting on corners with extreme drop offs?"

PREVIEW | Tour de Suisse 2023 stage 8 - Evenepoel, Ayuso and Skjelmose to fight for race win on hilly time-trial