WorldTour

Netflix Untold: The story behind the documentary

What happens when you win one of the biggest cycling races in the world - but the Netflix cameras look away?

Written by RBH

4 min readPublished on 03.07.2025 · 13:03 UTC

The third and final season of Netflix's "Tour de France: In the peloton" is available. Eight episodes that catapult you right into the heart of the Tour de France 2024 peloton. For Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe, it was a summer that changed everything. Spoiler Alert: You won't see the most important part on Netflix.

Netflix Unchained with Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe
© RBH

A new chapter with wings

It was the beginning of a new era. Just a few days before the Grand Départ, Red Bull officially announced its involvement in the German WorldTour team BORA - hansgrohe. At the legendary Hangar-7 in Salzburg, the team presented itself for the first time with a new name, new jersey, white bikes and a new self-image.

Primož Roglič im Hangar 7
© Samo Vidic / Red Bull Content Pool

From there, they travelled together to Florence in the Flying Bulls' DC-6 - with one man in the spotlight: Primož Roglič. The Netflix cameras followed him every kilometre. But what really characterised this summer happened away from the Netflix series.

Off to the tour

With Red Bull came new energy, a tailwind - and a shared dream: the Tour de France. For Roglič, who had already won the Giro and the Vuelta, the Tour was always the big goal, the missing piece of the puzzle.

Stage 4 of the Tour de France 2024
© Max Fries

After the first week, it was already clear that the way to the podium was through the big names - Pogačar, Vingegaard, Evenepoel. Roglič was only a few seconds behind, anything was possible. But the Tour is relentless: it had already left its mark, then came the moment of destiny on the twelfth stage. Roglič was knocked off another rider's bike - at the wrong time, in the wrong place. He reached the finish line in Villeneuve-sur-Lot in a state of shock, supported by his team-mates.

At the finish of stage 12 of the Tour de France
© Getty Images

Netflix shows the pain, the disappointment, the moment when it becomes clear: Roglič has to give up. But what happened afterwards remains invisible.

What Netflix doesn't show: The view ahead

The cameras were gone, but the fighting spirit remained. For Roglič, one thing was clear: the summer wasn't over yet. There was still one goal that was even bigger than the Tour - winning the Vuelta a España for the fourth time. Back with his family, Roglič found new strength. Together with the performance team, he forged a plan to return to top form, step by step. What looked like a failure became a new beginning.

A team united behind one goal. A rider who didn't want to prove anything to his critics, but to himself - and to his team-mates, who went through fire for him.

Spain rewrites history

And then came the Vuelta. Roglič, already written off by many, rode as if unleashed: stage win on day four, the red jersey on his shoulders early on. But the race turned around when Ben O'Connor pulled out a lead of almost five minutes. Experts were unanimous: that was impossible to catch up in modern cycling.

Primoz Roglic winning stage 4 at the Vuelta a Espana
© Max Fries

But they were wrong. Roglič remained calm, the team worked focussed and uncompromisingly. The gap melted second by second until it had shrunk to one minute before the final week. Before the 19th stage, the two were separated by just five seconds.

Time for the showdown: With stage win number three on the Alto de Moncalvillo, Roglič finally turned the race around. A five-minute deficit became a two-and-a-half-minute lead - and ultimately his fourth Vuelta victory.

Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe celebrating in Madrid
© Max Fries

More than just a victory

This triumph was more than just another entry in the statistics. It was the first Grand Tour victory under the new name "Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe", just ten weeks after the start of the new era. For Roglič, it was confirmation that standing up can be greater than winning.

It was the moment when a defeat became a story. For the team, for Roglič - and for everyone who believed that in cycling it's often not the first blow that decides who gets up again.

Primož Roglič
© Maximilian Fries / Red Bull Content Pool

The story that Netflix doesn't tell

What Netflix shows is a defeat. What Netflix doesn't show is the much bigger story behind it: How setbacks turn into strength. How a rider doesn't give up. And how an entire team grows together to make the impossible possible.

That's the part that will make this summer of 2024 unforgettable - for Roglič, for Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe and for all fans who know: The best stories often begin where others switch off.