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Active Expert: Bruce Hildenbrand

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Bruce E Hildenbrand

Race Radios?

Posted by Bruce E Hildenbrand on Jul 24, 2007 8:24:00 AM

Does the peloton really need race radios?  Every rider wears one; they are used to communicate with the team director in the support car.  The excitement generated by the likes of Vinokourov, Contador and Rasmussen at the Tour belies the fact that a lot of pro racing has become boring.  The riders have become robots, pedaling along waiting for the orders from the team director to attack or chase.  Most of the directors have satellite TV in their autos, so they can follow the race and react in an instant.  The result is almost always predictable.  There are few surprises.

 

Personally, I would like to ban race radios.  Lest you think I am flip-flopping, I first wrote about my dislike of the radios way back in 1993, when they were first introduced by Motorola with its Peloton Communication System.  Motorola sponsored a European professional team back then.  One of its riders was a 21-year-old Texan named Lance. Unfortunately, Motorola management did not appreciate my stance and when I visited the team on the first rest day in Grenoble, I was politely asked to reconsider my opinion.  Well, it has been 14 years and I still don't like radios.

 

The teams will argue that the radios make riding in the pack much safer.  If a rider has a problem he can contact his director over the airwaves rather than go back between all the team cars risking an accident.  Yes, this is one valid reason, but the riders still have to go back to their cars to pick-up/drop-off equipment and fetch food and water. So, I am not convinced that it is critical to reduce trips back to the cars.

 

A lot of the riders don't like the radios either.  Back in the day, part of being a pro was reading the race.  You had to be at the front to make sure none of the danger men slipped away.  Conversely, if you were pretty crafty, you might be able to attack and get away with little notice.  Now, information on who is up the road is right there on the TV in the director's car.  So, riders just sit in the pack waiting to be told what to do.  It's all about horsepower below the waist and not above the neck.  How do you all feel about race radios in the peloton?

 

Ever Upward,

Bruce

635 Views Tags: 2007-tour-de-france, bruce-hildenbrand, 2007_tour_de_france, bruce_hildenbrand


Comments (7)
Jul 24, 2007 9:01 AM Guest Matt  says:

I Completly AGREE! I think radios take away a valuable and exciting part racing! In years past, there were more sucessful breakaways. Now with radios, the race is much more controlled by the peleton and leaders (ie: boring). The peleton knows exactly WHO is WHERE at all times..and can judge their effort to perfection for capturing the breakaway a few KM from the line. Good for the sprinters, but bad for the suprise element of Cycling. Sorry, but there's just TOO much infomation avail to the Peleton, and having the team director sit inside a car telling his guys when to attack and such takes the race away from the minds of the racers. I HATE the radios! Get Rid of them! They should be banned just like performance enhancing drugs!
Jul 24, 2007 10:12 AM Guest RayK in Boulder  says in response to Matt:

Bruce is right, as usual (even if he can't spell PUS, which is only because he never crashes or bleeds)...
Jul 24, 2007 11:41 AM Guest Cleland  says:

I wonder how much really useful information get communicated over the radios, anyway. During last year's Tour, there was a camera in the Phonak team car during Landis' monster comeback. All I heard the guy driving the car (John Lelangue?), say over the radio, repeatedly, was "Go, Floyd, Go!" If I were a rider, such pointless chatter would drive me nuts.
Jul 24, 2007 12:21 PM Guest Guest  says in response to Cleland:

It is useful information. Compare it to football.  What if the team just went out on the field and guessed what they were supposed to do next?  It would be a mess. I do think that there is too much monitoring... especially in football.  They got guys all over the place reporting in to the coaches, then the coaches decide what plays to do.  I think all the monitoring should be from the side lines by the coaches and players.  Same with cycling.  I believe its mostly the Directour to the riders.
Jul 24, 2007 1:17 PM Guest Max  says:

I agree that the radios take off some of the excitement but banning them will only add one more thing that has to be checked and made sure that nobody is cheating and that will become distracting too. I'd rather they focus on enforcing the current regulations, like taking a lift from the cars while talking to the director and especially the anti-doping effort.

Radios, yeah they can make the race boring. Doping makes the race dangerous and the results unfair. Stick to fighting doping and leave the radios alone. If you find the race boring just turn off the TV and wait for the mountain stages.
Jul 24, 2007 2:09 PM Guest Andy Pignatora  says:

I'm still up in the air, I can see it from both side a little. It would be nice to see the break make it a little more often.

I would like to tip my hat to Danillo DiLuca, Giro Champion and race radio non-user.
Jul 24, 2007 10:59 PM Guest Theresa  says:

Jen Voigt has been known to ignore what's being told to him in his ear; and race with his heart. I think more riders should learn to rely on their experience and gut feelings. It would be more exciting. They'd have to use tactics and their brains.  The radios will be impossible to get ride of.  But I feel the riders should have more freedom in the decisions they make during the race.  If it's a bad one, they learn a lesson.

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