The Tour de France may be 112 years old, but the event is at the cutting-edge of today’s technology, with this year’s race employing a GPS tracking system that allows fans to track the progress of their favorite cyclists.
The 2015 edition of the world’s most prestigious bike race marked the debut of the tracker system, which employed a GPS transponder placed on the seat rail of each racer’s bicycle. The transponders sent out live streaming data, which was presented on a web site in real time. At the site, users could monitor every competitor, viewing their location on a map and their place in the current stage of the race.
For avid cycling viewers, such GPS tracking systems represent a major innovation in the way they can appreciate and keep current on developments in bicycle racing events. With races and stages lasting for hours on end, it’s often not practical for fans to view the entire competition on live television. Furthermore, live television coverage frequently doesn’t present a complete picture of racing events, which have large numbers of participants spread over a vast course.
Such tracking systems allow racing aficionados to check on the status of the race at their convenience. They also give users a quick way to get comprehensive information, from a look at racers’ positions at a high level, down to a detailed account of the performance of a single rider.
The transponder, which was provided by infrastructure IT company Dimension Data, also delivered a range of other real-time data and analytics, including the stage winner’s top speed, average velocity and time per kilometer. For real bicycle racing enthusiasts, the tracking system also provided information like the speed of the winner at the finish line and the average kilometers per hour for all riders.
The introduction of the Tour de France tracking system is part of a larger trend toward using GPS in bike racing. Such systems not only provide a superior way to view events, they also may change the nature of the races themselves. For example, the North Shore Overlord GPS Mountain Bike Race held in September in the Vancouver area employed an innovative format where the riders were allowed to pick their own
course among various mountain biking trails. To ensure the riders were following a rule to not ride on the same trail twice, each cyclist was issued a GPS locator from Flaik, a company that provides real-time tracking of skiers at resorts. Race officials said this was the first-ever race that tracked free-riding mountain bikers. In the future, more free-format races in rugged conditions could be held using this type of GPS technology.
GPS tracking technology is also increasingly employed in consumer bicycling products. For example, Garmin is offering the Edge 1000, a helmet-mountable device that includes bike-specific navigation and mapping. The Edge 1000 features a range of other capabilities including audio and HD video recording as well as Wi-Fi streaming. The device also interfaces with the Garmin Connect Mobile App, which includes the LiveTrack feature that allows friends and family to track a rider’s races and training in real time.