The Tour de France franchise reeks of defeat. The technique is two generations old, the graphical assets are worthy of a trivial mobile game, and the studio shamelessly recycles the same single face for all the in-game riders year after year. Despite its staunchest advocates, the series is evolving too slowly not to disappoint them further down the road. And yet, this failure still manages to stay on course and share the passion surrounding the beautiful sport of road cycling. Once in the game, we are sucked in, immersed, and ravel in the tactical and strategic races at the core of the whole legend behind road bicycle racing. The gameplay and content are consistent and effective. The whole experience is very coherent and offers an interesting simulation. Despite all its flaws, Tour de France 22 will keep us on our toes, at least until the end of July, and this was not a foregone conclusion.
