'Tour de Pharmacy' Is a Cycling Spoof Ridiculous Enough for the Real Sport

Anyone who thinks pro cycling fans lack a sense of humor doesn’t watch pro cycling. Following the sport demands an appreciation of the absurd. In last year’s Tour de France, the man in the yellow jersey jogged up a long portion of Mount Ventoux without a bicycle. In the recent Giro d’Italia, the overall leader had to pull off to the side of a Swiss mountain road before a global television audience and take an emergency dump under a road sign. Numerous athletes who have been caught doping have offered public, harebrained explanations for their positives. I have loved pro cycling with all of my heart for decades, but at times it can seem like a living, breathing caricature of a professional sport.

Into this morass, just days after the reigning world champion was told to pack his bags and leave the Tour de France for possibly causing a bad crash, steps a short film that is an actual parody of pro cycling. Tour de Pharmacy, which debuts on Saturday, July 8, is a mockumentary from Andy Samberg and Murray Miller in the style of their previous film 7 Days in Hell, which mocks championship tennis. I found 7 Days in Hell to be quite funny, but it is worth noting that I lack a deep emotional investment in grass-court tennis. For a lifelong cycling fan, Tour de Pharmacy felt considerably more personal. And by personal, I mean painful.