Fans Go Onboard For Uci Track Cycling
At this weekend’s UCI Track Cycling World Championships a number of riders’ bikes were equipped with cameras, thanks to a partnership with Infront/HBS, during the competition at Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, France.
The initiative applied to several events during the five days of racing.
In order to ensure fairness between riders, all participants of these events had cameras on their bikes, which were fixed under the bike seats to film the action taking place behind.
Check out some of the footage here.
In the weeks building up to the event, tests were carried out in real conditions at the National Velodrome in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines and at the UCI World Cycling Centre in Aigle, Switzerland.
The images captured by the cameras during the UCI Track Cycling World Championships have been used to broadcast live on the big screen at the National Velodrome and by the event broadcasters.
The UCI now aims to use onboard cameras at other events on the UCI International Track Cycling Calendar.
Welcoming this innovation, UCI president Brian Cookson – who will speak alongside World Rugby’s Brett Gosper at the Sport Industry Breakfast Club, powered by CWM FX, on 17th March – commented: “The UCI wishes to increase cycling’s appeal among the fans. We already introduced cameras and geo-localisation at the UCI Road World Championships in Ponferrada, and have also carried out camera tests at the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup.
“Now we will offer the public at Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines and television and Internet viewers throughout the world the chance to experience track racing live from the inside for the first time. This is important and exciting progress for the track and also for cycling as a whole, which will benefit from these technological innovations.”
Company behind live TV footage used at track world championships says technology will eventually move in to road racing.
Live on-bike footage was broadcast for the first time in history during the track cycling world championships in Paris last week, and the company behind the innovative project has said it will make it to road racing in the future.
Julien Bertin of production company HBS, commented: “The challenge for road racing isn’t the camera itself, you can get the weight down, the challenge is the transmission.
“This one weighs 200 grams, and we have a live transmitter. A GoPro is 160 grams. [The transmitter] is the biggest part and also the heaviest because you need to transmit HD quality pictures.”
