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I see they're banning team radios for a couple of stages this year. Good thing I reckon, as the racing is a bit spoilt by the riders always having perfect knowledge of what's going on having been told by their managers, rather than having to pay attention and working it out for themselves. The teams seem to complain that they're useful for riders having mechanicals and the like - a point which is rather nullified by the fact they're allowing neutral service radios for that sort of thing. An alternative I reckon would be one way radios with riders allowed to talk to the team car, but not the other way round.
Anybody else got any thoughts, or even interested in this?
Counter argument is that it could lead to the peleton not letting anyone get away, making it more sterile!
There's a lot of number crunching of average speeds, overall rankings, GC Times and points etc. going on back in the team cars, which is why the peloton always seem to catch the breakaway in the final km - without the extra info, the big teams may be unwilling to take the risk of letting anyone off the front.
Yes, two stages as a trial run - though the big teams have complained. I think radios have made a huge difference to the racing since they were introduced (1990 i think). You could probably argue that the Lance era wouldn't have run quite so smoothly without them as they clearly suit calculating riders like Lance rather than more impulsive riders like Millar etc. But I'm not sure if they've done the sport any harm.
Counter argument is that it could lead to the peleton not letting anyone get away, making it more sterile!
Given only two stages it might - if they had it for the whole Tour that simply wouldn't be possible as the teams aren't strong enough, which is after all why breaks are allowed to go anyway rather than MC's team riding hard on the front from the gun. Though I'm not sure the teams are strong/motivated enough to not let anything at all go anyway.
Not that it makes so much difference to general breaks getting away, as they are let go. It would surely make more of a difference to the ability of big names to sneak into breaks (they can't sneak anywhere nowadays), and the field splitting in the wind.
Pro cyclists are like a set of pawns played out by a directeur sportif 200 metres behind watching the tv, listening to race radio while the mechanic in the back snoops on Lance's tweets from halfway up the Tourmalet. OK that's an extreme view, but the riders should be left to make more tactical decisions both individually and as a team whilst on the road. They're too reliant on receiving the orders of their respective cars.
Stages like today's would have been far better without the radios as the teams would have greater dificulty in keeping track of who'd made the jump. The team leader used to be exactly that - marshalling the troops around them and adapting their gameplan as necesarry. Now the "team leader" is a figurehead role and little else.
As for the safety arguement, give everyone a 2 way radio - to the race Director / their entourage. They can be warned of impending danger and riders can relay problems (like riders disappearing off the road) to the people that can do something immediately.
Exciting racing wasn't an issue before the introduction of race radio. Plenty of incredible racing then, and far more (succesful) attacking racing because of it.
I'd love them to ban radios from the team cars on a permanent basis.
It's not really safe- a crash around a bend could lead to pile ups with no contact at all. I agree with the comments above that it'll just lead to a neutralisation of breaks and make the racing dull. It's like the internet- everyone's so used to it now that they'd not really do anything without it.
They should just have the local radio breakfast show looped at them.
rolfharris
It's not really safe- a crash around a bend could lead to pile ups with no contact at all
How could it be less safe? They're not mountainbikers out for a ride and faff you know, the only difference will be in changes of team tactics and probably fewer bunch sprints.
i wonder if lance or alberto manage to sneak off on stage 13 to take full control of the team with a nice little lead. Accidently of course as they had no comms 🙂
Was the tour much more dangerous before radios? i'm not so sure it was. I'd love it if there was no radios permitted, plus you had to fix all your own mechanicals, just like in them olden days, that'd be good tv, imagine it Alberto Contraband launches a major attack at the foot of the Ventoux, the peloton are strung out behind led by the GC favorites then it happans............. Cadel gets yet another puncture, just imagine his hideous hobbit face screwed up in panic as he battles to open his box of tip-top and remembers that last time he lent his pump out to his mate Shane he'd swapped the adapter to Shraeder - priceless!
I don't see why everyones getting so worked up about radio's. If you wanted to make it really exciting you'd get rid of the support cars and insist that all riders had to be self-sufficient.
Team work to ensure wins for particular favourites also makes it kind of dull too you could say.
I'd say ban the radios to bring back proper racing as has been said above. Mechanical support is essential though - any flat would otherwise be race-ending.
Yesterday's winner said he'd pulled his ear-piece out in the final kilometres because he didn't want to know how close the break was to being rolled up. 🙂
If we're going to have stages of such hog-whimpering tedium as yesterday's, where even the Tourmalet provides absolutely no excitement whatsoever, then the amusement is provided purely by the breakaways. Anything which reduces the clinical certainty of the peleton catching an escape that has gone clear is worth a try in my book.
If you ban the radios you will just see lots of moto's/team cars with chalkboards as it was before......
I dont see any reason why the directors of the tour cannot make safety statements (re crashes, dodgy street furniture etc) to teams as a whole via radios.
Just stop teams having access to tactical radio statements.
I think its worth a try stopping radios as the riders are ever becoming machines to be used, rather than living thinking people.
If you ban the radios you will just see lots of moto's/team cars with chalkboards as it was before......
Good - I miss the chalkboards. Rather harder for a DS to give live info to his team using such old-fashioned methods.
I accidentally watched several seconds of the TdF last week. It was a close run thing between losing the will to live and hitting the channel button...
Oh shut it barnes. 😀
Thank you for your contribution, simon. As valuable and informative as ever.