Cycling has been called ‘chess on wheels’ but the tactical dimension of the sport has always been quite opaque, with the decisions always hidden until after the race, when interviews with riders and team sport directors bring out some of the information on their own terms.
The insight into the tactical information provided from the directors in the team car to the riders on the road has long been kept under wraps, but the new addition to the coverage gives viewers a new appreciation for the tactics as the race plays out.
Selected messages from team radio play over the normal audio of the race proximate to their timing during the event, bringing to light what encouragement, tactical information and advice is being given to riders out on the road.
SD-Worx is one of the teams participating, and they had cycling legend Anna van der Breggen calling the shots over the team radio on Stage 4. She was giving information on the upcoming sections and encouraging Marlen Reusser as the Swiss rider powered towards victory, and then just seconds later the audio was playing live across the world.
The Dutch team were also the focus of perhaps the most significant tactical discussion caught on the radio, with Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio ordered to sit on during Stage 3 when her teammate Demi Vollering was chasing back to the front of the race just after crashing.
There’s a bit of delay in the audio reaching the broadcast and certainly, there must be some censorship and selection of certain sections, but it’s exciting to see some of the elements that make other sports broadcasts so dynamic - in this case Formula 1 racing - incorporated into live cycling coverage.
The Tour de France Femmes continues with the first of two big mountain stages to finish the race, with the 13-kilometre climb of the Grand Ballon summiting with just seven kilometres remaining in the stage. Watch from 11.20pm AEST on the SBS SKODA Tour Tracker or from 11.25pm AEST on SBS and SBS On Demand.
