First view of new Team Sky documentary series

The two most shocking revelations in the first episode of Sky Atlantic’s new behind-the-scenes series about Team Sky involve Mark Cavendish and Dave Brailsford.

The first is that Cav unequivocally lays the blame for his poor early season form on “the management”, rather than himself or his teammates.

The second is that Dave Brailsford stays in Manchester’s most expensive hotel, the luxury five-star Lowry, when he’s required for duty at British Cycling’s HQ.  Bearing in mind British Cycling gets a huge slice of lottery funding, that’s me, you and old Mrs. MacGregor with the houseful of cats who are paying for that.  Wouldn’t it be cheaper if British Cycling just rented a flat instead?  There’s some bargains to be had in Salford Quays…..

Meanwhile race coach Rod Ellingworth, who appears to have a bit of raisin stuck to his teeth every time he is interviewed, pays the price for Cav’s indifferent form: he is ordered to get up at 4 am on the morning of a stage of the Giro Italia, drive 250 km to the finish, film the final two kilometres and relay it back to the Team Sky bus back at the start so Cav can get a proper, up-to-the-minute look at where the traffic bollards are.

It’s an intriguing glimpse of just how high-tech and detailed Sky’s preparation is (even if Cav still ends up misjudging the final bend and losing the stage).

Any viewers hoping for lots of candid, unguarded moments proving that Dave Brailsford really is a human just like the rest of us will probably be disappointed. Cav and Bernie Eisel discussing bizarre US state by-laws, the team filmed from a distance having dinner and Brailsford sweating on his training bike are about as intimate as it gets. You suspect that Team Sky’s PR machine was ready to pounce if the conversations got too interesting.

In keeping with the fashion for assuming all viewers are slightly thick, there’s a very obtrusive voiceover from a posh woman who keeps stating the bleedin’ obvious.

For a series about a high-speed, action sport, there’s also a lot of stills and static talking head shots, reflecting that the producers probably couldn’t afford the rights to race footage.

All in all, a muted start to the five-part series. Maybe things will get better once a certain Bradley Wiggins makes his entrance….

British Cycling: Road To Glory, a TwoFour production, starts on Sky Atlantic at 8 pm on Thursday, 30 August.

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