Tour of Utah: Stage 1

[BillytheKid]

Ogden to Ogden: 206 Ks

Bumpy route with a final Cat. 2 climb with sections of 15%, but it's 18 K from the finish. Hot and windy, a field split on the final climb is likely. Chances of a break suceeding are low.

http://tourofutah.com/2012/stage-1

Start to Finish streaming coverage: http://tourtracker.tourofutah.com/

12:15 EST

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

Frankie's in the commentating booth.

Just talking about Sunday's climb. Riders are looking for compacts and 28s. That climb is gnarly.

 

[BillytheKid]

Just tunning in. How is the wind today?

 

[kielbasa]

FYI, I think it's pronounced Timmy "Dug-gan" not "Doogan". Some lady corrected me last year on the slopes of Little Cottonwood. She might've been Timmy's mom, 'cause she and others nearby were clearly cheering for him.

 

[BillytheKid]

Pictures pleeease!

 

[UpTheRoad]

Frankie's in the commentating booth.

Just talking about Sunday's climb. Riders are looking for compacts and 28s. That climb is gnarly.

The feed is showing the broadcast team commentating in the booth. Not showing the race, but showing the commentators.

What is going on here? What is the use of a video feed if you are not going to use it.

EDIT: Now we get more of the race. Two minutes race, 20 minutes feed of the commentators. Hope it switches to the race for good now.

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

The feed is showing the broadcast team commentating in the booth. Not showing the race, but showing the commentators.

What is going on here? What is the use of a video feed if you are not going to use it.

EDIT: Now we get more of the race. Two minutes race, 20 minutes feed of the commentators. Hope it switches to the race for good now.

Race is very early. They have over 160k to go.

Now they have full pictures.

 

[BillytheKid]

The feed is showing the broadcast team commentating in the booth. Not showing the race, but showing the commentators.

What is going on here? What is the use of a video feed if you are not going to use it.

EDIT: Now we get more of the race. Two minutes race, 20 minutes feed of the commentators. Hope it switches to the race for good now.

They said the length of the stage today limited the time for the aircraft/pictures. Should be good to the end. Although this looks like it will take awhile for a chase to get going. Levi is waiting for Horner's boys to do the work for them.

They could do with some ambient sound from the road. Silent pictures?

 

[UpTheRoad]

Race is very early. They have over 160k to go.

Now they have full pictures.

I was hoping that it would be like the early feed from the 2011 ATOC. There we had the video, but no commentating. Here we had the commentating, but no video.

Tracker says three guys have broken free from the peloton and are chasing.

 

[BillytheKid]

I guess they could only pop for one camera. I hope they are only having some problems otherwise this a bad thing. They had at least three camera's last year.

 

[RedheadDane]

Maybe we should suggest that they remove the camera from the commentating box and... take it to the road. Then they'd be able to show the break and the peloton.

 

[etymology]

I guess they could only pop for one camera. I hope they are only having some problems otherwise this a bad thing. They had at least three camera's last year.

to paraphrase the best known pro cyclist in all of the united states:


"they have a lot to learn about live streaming/broadcasting!"

 

[kielbasa]

The commentators mentioned that they were concerned about using too much fuel initially when not much is happening, so they'll have cameras and helicopter later on. They don't have the budget of a Grand Tour. We'll have to wait and see.

 

[etymology]

and on a distinctly unsarcastic note: *my* understanding of "start to finish coverage" means video of the actual race from rollout to finish line.

barring weather preventing helicopters from flying, start to finish coverage should not be promised if start to finish coverage cannnot be reliably provided. race day is not the time to iron out known wrinkles or to announce "we didn't really mean RACE VIDEO from start to finish.

*that* bit of whining (that's "whinging for my cycling compatriots oni the other side of the pond) aside...i will happily watch *some* live pictures instead of no live pictures at all.

 

[BillytheKid]

The commentators mentioned that they were concerned about using too much fuel initially when not much is happening, so they'll have cameras and helicopter later on. They don't have the budget of a Grand Tour. We'll have to wait and see.

I think the helocopter will be up for only the last 2 hours. The camera stuff should come first. You can have all IT guys, etc..., but what good is it without good videographers. Last year coverage seemed good, but this is no better than a ticker. I hope it improves in the final.

I guess it took that long for the one camera to get back to the main field. Epic.

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

All RadioShack and Garmin at the front of the peloton. They've taken responsibility for the chase. No real concern with chasing yet though. Still a very long way to go.

It's hot here. Should be 102 tomorrow (39 Celsius) too. Heat will play a role in this race.

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

Maybe I was wrong. Gap is coming down.

 

[UpTheRoad]

I am not a fan of the pro race style of chasing. I get that only a few teams at most will take up the chase at any one time, but if you are going to commit to chase, why not ride a paceline with rotating riders at short intervals?

20-30 seconds tops, and then pull off has to be better than one guy riding for multiple kms and then another for multiple kms.

Get a paceline of 10-12 riders from two teams (more if other teams will contribute) and nobody gets burned out and the speeds are generally higher. They don't need an olympic-style pursuit, but I don't think they'll burn out with quicker rotations.





***Hilly/mountain stages are not included in my rant, of course.


EDIT: I now see the error of my ways. If you only waste one or two riders, you have enough left to set up the sprint train at the end. Didn't think of that at first.

 

[BillytheKid]

My guess is they are having trouble with there other camera/tramitter. Jens on the front again. One Garmin/One RSNT.

 

[Deagol]

Billythe Kid,

Your sig caught my attention "Colorado could learn from Utah". On that note, I saw something a while back where the USA Pro Cycling Challenge was not really linked to just Colorado, but rather promised to hold the first few years of the race there. I got the impression that they may consider going elsewhere after that (maybe for variety's sake?). I could be wrong about this, but an interesting thought nonetheless. I do know that the title "Tour of Colorado" was already taken, but to use USA Pro Cycling Challenge to describe a race that would always just be in one state sounds weird to me.

Anyway, sorry for the off-topic post..

Wish Cycling news had live updates on this race (Tour of Utah, that is..)

 

[kielbasa]

Billythe Kid,

Your sig caught my attention "Colorado could learn from Utah". On that note, I saw something a while back where the USA Pro Cycling Challenge was not really linked to just Colorado, but rather promised to hold the first few years of the race there. I got the impression that they may consider going elsewhere after that (maybe for variety's sake?). I could be wrong about this, but an interesting thought nonetheless. I do know that the title "Tour of Colorado" was already taken, but to use USA Pro Cycling Challenge to describe a race that would always just be in one state sounds weird to me.

Anyway, sorry for the off-topic post..

Wish Cycling news had live updates on this race (Tour of Utah, that is..)

Hmm, perhaps they'll eventually combine the two races (Colorado/Utah) for a grander "Rocky Mountain" Tour. TofU is definitely more impressive in terms of actual "pro cycling challenge".

 

[Der Effe]

So, by how many minutes will Kelderman win this race?

 

[UpTheRoad]

Quick shot of Frankie with the shades on -- looks like he had a rough go of it last night. Is Andy riding here? I thought he was on the shelf with a hip injury.

 

[BillytheKid]

Billythe Kid,

Your sig caught my attention "Colorado could learn from Utah". On that note, I saw something a while back where the USA Pro Cycling Challenge was not really linked to just Colorado, but rather promised to hold the first few years of the race there. I got the impression that they may consider going elsewhere after that (maybe for variety's sake?). I could be wrong about this, but an interesting thought nonetheless. I do know that the title "Tour of Colorado" was already taken, but to use USA Pro Cycling Challenge to describe a race that would always just be in one state sounds weird to me.

Anyway, sorry for the off-topic post..

Wish Cycling news had live updates on this race (Tour of Utah, that is..)

For now it's Colorado for short becasue it enjoy's some state support from the Governor which is important to closing roads. Road Racing enjoys few friends sometimes here. We will see what the future holds. The title "Tour of Utah" is ambitious as well since it is really in the greater Salt Lake City area, but I like the true climbing it offers especially the last two stages. So many good climbs are avoided in Colorado to aid in-town tourist finishes that support commerce. I expect to see bigger crowds at Snowbird and Park City.

Hopefully this coverage will improve.

 

[UpTheRoad]

William Clarke is not having any good luck in the last few minutes. First a rear flat that needed a trip to the team car for a spare wheel, and now a dropped chain in the sprint for the KOM.