New doco follows Spratty and Lidl-Trek behind the scenes at Tour de France Femmes

“I’m just a cycling fan through and through,” Aussie cycling legend Amanda ‘Spratty’ Spratt says.

“I did grow up watching the Tour as a young kid, watching the highlights on SBS, then progressed to watching more and more of the stage.”

Little did she realise back then that she too would one day be competing in cycling’s most prestigious stage races – the Tour de France.

Despite having a number of stage races on the Women’s WorldTour calendar including the Giro Donne and La Vuelta Femenina, it wouldn’t be until 2022 the Tour de France Femmes was launched taking place over eight days.

"The Tour de France is one of the biggest stages in world sport and it was a huge moment for the women’s peloton to finally have a version of the race that is now being given the respect it deserves,” said Spratty, who lined up for that inaugural Tour with her former WorldTour Team BikeExchange-Jayco (now Liv Jayco-AlUla) but had to withdraw following a crash on Stage 2.

She returned to the Tour last year with her new team Lidl-Trek.

Now a recently released documentary, ‘Second to None’, follows Spratty and her Lidl-Trek team as they endeavour to overcome their physical and emotional challenges of the Tour and gives a glimpse into life and the athletes behind the racing and off the bike.

Made over two years, with a combination of observational footage, archives and master interviews, this dramatic three-part documentary series follows up-close the team of elite female cyclists as they train, race, fall, hope and triumph in a world traditionally dominated by their male counterparts.

“When I grew up watching cycling or watching athletes, probably in cycling my idols were all the male cyclists. I was watching Robbie McEwan in the sprints, Stuart O’Grady,” Spratty reflected.

“I knew women were racing, it wasn’t really a conscious thing every time I watched cycling it was men. So, I never thought I’d be in this position where I’m on the big screen, and be part of a documentary. It’s quite special.”

Spratty, who had ridden with the Australian owned team GreenEdge for 11 years before making the move to Lidl-Trek, said the landscape of female cycling had shifted since even her first year as a professional rider in 2006.

“It’s incredible to be part of. I’m really aware I’m part of this change in women’s cycling. In the last four or five years it’s just been incredible change in professionalism in teams popping up. I remember when I first started there was maybe one team everyone wanted to be a part of. Apart from that there wasn’t anything. Whereas now there are 15-16 WorldTour teams paying good salaries with good working conditions.

“We’re also seeing the level increase. Five or six years ago we had maybe five riders who could be there in the final, now we have 20-30 riders that are still around in the same kind of hard races. Riders can really dedicate themselves to the sport now.”

For Spratty, now 36-years-old, it’s also about inspiring the next generation or young female and male riders, and continuing to increase the visibility of female cyclists for years to come.

“I’ve grown up on a bike since I was nine on a BMX then road and track when I was probably 12 years old. For me I do it because I love it, I’m so passionate about the sport so I think that’s why its such a special feeling to be part of this now,” she said.

“My biggest wish is in Australia it gains that popularity as well. There’s nothing more fulfilling than if a young rider, when I’m home in Australia, can come up to me and say I’ve inspired them to ride a bike or they really love watching me race. And I think we’re coming on the screens more and more now and I think that’s a really important step to get that visibility.”

Second to None premiered in Australia exclusively on DocPlay on June 17, with episodes 2 and 3 will released weekly on June 24 and July 1.