What’s new this season? With disc brakes almost rare as motors one novelty for 2016 is the general use of race radios across all pro events. Previously reserved for the World Tour, and even threatened with extinction, radios are now in general use across all major pro races, male and female, for example at the Tour of Oman as modelled by reigning Belgian champion Preben Van Hecke. Will it make a difference? Maybe but perhaps not as we think.
In recent years race radios have been a key part of team tactics in the big races, many times we’ve seen riders cup their ears to better hear a message relayed from the team car. Now in-race communications will be banned for all road races in 2015 according to a new UCI rule.
All change? Or just a new round of protest between the teams and the UCI and a test of authority for President Brian Cookson?
Update: radios won’t be banned. The UCI is promising to update the rulebook early in the new year and radios will once again be allowed.
Having covered some of the highlights of 2011, a quick look at the other moments from the year where there was less pleasure or enjoyment. The most sorry moment was obviously the loss of Wouter Weylandt during the Giro d’Italia. Any words about tragedy and loss just aren’t enough, there is little I can add. … Read more
You are probably getting rightly bored by the race radio debate. After all Milan-Sanremo was so exciting that it rightly put politics, protest and scandal in the shade. And by now you probably know by now that the radio is being used as a Trojan Horse where protesting teams are trying to push back the UCI in order to have more say over the sport. But bear with me…
Forgotten amongst all the debate, noise, protest and press releases is the fundamental premise of evidence. Nobody seems to have put forward any data to suggest the addition or removal of race radios makes any difference to safety or results. I’ve yet to see data, only anecdote. Until now.
A modest proposal to make women’s racing more exciting: do it naked. The sport suffers from a lack of sponsors and reduced TV coverage. New fans would arrive, TV audiences would grow and sponsorship would rise. It needn’t be fully naked, skimpy outfits work in beach volleyball and something small would be ok for the … Read more
The weekend saw two races held without race radios. Here’s a quick review of the issues. Tactics It matters more than ever in Belgium as positioning and tactics are vital, riders dropping back to the team car to pick up food or fix a mechanical can’t alert their team. As a result, team riders use … Read more
The lastest is that the racing will go ahead this weekend… but there’s still confusion as to whether riders will start with radios or not. Either way, I put a message on twitter earlier saying the campaign to keep race radios was proving to be a PR disaster as it amounts to little more than … Read more
I could write a big preview for Het Nieuwsblad but the guys over at Pavé will probably do a better job. The opening race of the Belgian classics season is always interesting given the manic racing, the cobbles and yes, the foul weather that is expected. The route The 2011 edition is 203km long and … Read more
Carpani consults the bunch Speaking to cyclingnews.com, UCI spokesman Enrico Carpani suggests the governing body won’t back down over the ban of race radios. “We want to remind everyone that the decision has been taken with the participation of all the parties involved in the cycling movement. So the decision remains.” This is inflammatory stuff. … Read more
The smile gets wiped off Who won today’s opening stage of the Tour of Majorca, the Trofeo Palma de Mallorca? The answer: nobody. The riders took the start, completed the race and Tyler Farrar was the first to cross the finish line. But the race has been declared void since many of the riders were … Read more