Much has been mentioned in regards to the legality of Visma-Lease a Bike’s all-new ‘management room’, and in current days, the UCI has opened an investigation to look into it and banned it from TDF premises.
But what really is it? When reacting to the UCI’s announcement of the aforementioned investigation, the group’s General Manager, Richard Plugge, mentioned “they’re welcome to come back and go to.” The day earlier than the tour kicked off in Florence, Cyclingnews visited the Visma resort in Pistoia to do exactly that.
In the video beneath, the group’s Head of Performance, Mathieu Heijboer, walks us by the setup and provides perception into how he thinks it compares to different groups.
We have been welcomed into the Volkswagen Crafter van, nearly inspired even. For a group usually coy about their technological improvements, this was a refreshing, if complicated stance. The group nearly appeared to be attempting to show some extent to the UCI. Regardless, I took the chance to eke out as a lot data as I might.
“What we actually don’t do, and actually to emphasize that, is we don’t seize something from the bike, as a result of it is unlawful, we play based on the principles,” Heijboer was at pains to level out. “The solely factor we are able to do is use TV pictures and use all the things that is publicly out there.”
Housed inside, the ‘management room’ contains six laptop displays, plus an iPhone and two laptops. On every display screen is a selected stream of knowledge.
The top-left display screen is break up through six separate streams of TV cameras from numerous sources across the race, motorbikes and helicopters. To its proper, a full-screen show reveals the primary tv protection.
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Beneath these, the extra knowledge begins to come back into play. On the left, climate knowledge from across the race course is break up into 4 sections, and on the identical monitor, knowledge from ProCyclingStats reveals the beginning checklist and Tour de France route data, however in a typical net browser that may presumably be used to search out extra details about the riders or the route.
On the middle-right display screen, an fascinating piece of software program is being employed. Put merely, that is an computerized jersey recognition software program, which is overlaid on stay tv footage. The software program counts the variety of jerseys from every group in an image, and regularly updates as riders drop out of view, or out of the group totally. The tally is then listed beneath, enabling these within the van to see what number of riders every group has in a breakaway or a peloton.
The backside pair of displays is a mix of extra data and communication, permitting the group to go perception or instruction onto the group automobile. On the left, a stream from social media platform X (previously Twitter) reveals each tweet in regards to the race as quickly as they’re posted. For my go to, the stream was arrange for the current Critérium du Dauphiné, however Heijboer says that is merely arrange for example, and it wasn’t used on the Tour de France warm-up race.
Right of this, data from VeloViewer provides to the route data from ProCyclingStats, alongside a multi-clock timer app, which permits the group to depend seconds between teams of riders, or run the maths on chasing down a breakaway.
Right of this, on the underside proper display screen, is a second WhatsApp chat, presumably related to the account of the particular person sitting within the right-hand chair. On the identical display screen, a Teams app is open, which connects the management room to the group automobile. A webcam sits between the displays to ship a video stream when wanted.
At least three Apple Mac Mini computer systems energy the setup, which additionally contains a bunch of audio system, in addition to video convention peripherals comparable to desktop microphones.
Heijboer explains that the van will not be used for each stage, however that they’ll hand-select essential phases to make use of it.
Paid for and designed by sponsors Bet City and Visma, the management centre has been described in some ways. Some say it is a constructive step for biking with a security side of sharing essential hazards that lie forward, others say the alternative, and that it’s one other nail within the coffin for the romanticism and traditionalism of our sport.
Some have even touted it as merely a advertising ploy, making public the strategies that numerous different groups are already using, and have been for a while.
“A number of groups can have coaches behind the TV who will name in with the sports activities administrators,” Heijboer defined. ” To be sincere, this isn’t actually totally different to that. We simply convey all of it to at least one place.
“Every self-respecting group can have a coach on the sofa watching TV, and in the event that they see one thing on tv that they do not see on the race automobile, they’ll contact them.”