Pro cycling on the big screen: 9 shows to watch or stream online in 2023

Cycling fans around the world were thrilled to learn that streaming giant Netflix is creating a new series all about the Tour de France. But the Tour de France project isn’t the only one in the works. Amazon Prime has at least two new shows focusing on the world of pro cycling. Netflix reportedly has another focusing solely on Mark Cavendish.

It seems 2023 is the year that the web series format, popularized by EF/Rapha’s Gone Racing, Movistar’s The Least Expected Day and others, makes the jump to the big time. Here are nine projects, mostly about pro cycling but also with some gravel and other formats thrown in, that you can either stream now or look forward to this year.

And, if all of this seems too serious for a sport that is, in the end, just riding a bike, then Tour de Pharmacy is still available to stream online and on real TVs.

Netflix gives Tour de France the Drive to Survive treatment

Netflix is turning the people behind its sensational F1 series, Drive to Survive, on the Tour de France. There’s no firm release date, though it is expected to be in early 2023, but the project now appears to have a title. Can Netflix do for cycling what it did for F1? Who knows, but it should be entertaining.

Prime’s Soudal Quick-Step series

While Netflix looks at the Tour de France, Amazon Prime is training its sights on just one team: Soudal Quick-Step. This project will follow the team through the 2022 season, Classics, Grand Tours and beyond. The release date is also in early 2023.

Jumbo-Visma: All-In

Not to be outdone by its rival, Jumbo-Visma also has a series coming to Amazon Prime. The team had quite the season in 2022, so there is plenty of material to spread out throughout several episodes. All-In‘s release date is set for March 1, but this could be geo-restricted to the Benelux nations. You can watch the trailer above, though English is limited to auto-generated captions. If you can’t wait that long, you can go back and re-watch, Plan-B: The Fall & Rise, a doc that follows the team at the 2021 Tour.

Movistar: The Least Expected Day – Season 4

The fourth season of Movistar’s team series, The Least Expected Day should be a big one. Annimek van Vleuten absolutely crushed the 2022 season and Alejandro Valverde called an end to his long and storied career. Plus, you know, plenty of other drama. There’s no release date yet for this one.

Mark Cavendish Netflix documentary

The Manx Missile will be flying onto Netflix screens sometime soon. Cavendish confirmed that the documentary about his career is already in production for the major streaming service. The ending might need some adjusting, though, if Cav manages to nab a 35th Tour de France stage win this summer. There is no release date yet for this project, either.

Life Time Grand Prix: Call of a Life Time

Life Time Grand Prix docu-series, Call of a Life Time isn’t going to be screening on any major platform, but it is available free to watch on YouTube now. It follows the first season of Life Time’s big-money (for gravel) mixed cross-country marathon and gravel racing series. Six half-hour episodes cover one event each of the 2022 season.

Of special note for Canadian fans, Ontario’s Haley Smith battled to take the first Grand Prix series title. She wasn’t the only Canuck racing, though, so there is plenty of Cancon on offer. If you plow through Call of  Life Time and want more, Life Time also put together individual mini-docs on several athletes, including Smith.

Whirlwind – Major Taylor documentary

It is hard to believe that there still isn’t a proper documentary about the iconic U.S. track racer, Major Taylor. But one is in the works. This project might not make it to screen in 2023, though there is now a trailer. If you want to help it get to produced quicker, the doc’s creators are still fundraising to make this long-overdue film a reality.

Jayco AlUla- On The Wheel (Season 2)

Australian pro men’s and women’s team Jayco AlUla also has its own series. Unlike the major streaming projects, On the Wheel follows the teams through the 2023 season. The second season of this series just made its debut, at their home races: The Tour Down Under.

Before The Storm

Before The Storm isn’t about pro cycling teams but it does look amazing. The documentary from Huck follows the BikeStormz and the London street bike movement. BikeStormz started in 2014 with the simple slogan “Guns Down, Knives Down, Bikes Up.” The doc follows the founding O’Neil brothers (Jake O’Niel is famous on Instagram as Jake 100) as they use bikes and wheelies to try to create social change. This short, but moving doc is streaming now.