Why is final sprint speed not shown on TV coverage?

[beelzebozo]

Can anyone offer any suggestions? With the UCI, I'm thinking draconian decisions or plain laziness OR afraid it might damage the image of the sport as sprints might not always be that fast..maybe?

 

[ingsve]

Can anyone offer any suggestions? With the UCI, I'm thinking draconian decisions or plain laziness OR afraid it might damage the image of the sport as sprints might not always be that fast..maybe?

Well, is it ever measured?

 

[Master50]

Can anyone offer any suggestions? With the UCI, I'm thinking draconian decisions or plain laziness OR afraid it might damage the image of the sport as sprints might not always be that fast..maybe?

Why does everything that is or isn't done at a race the responsibility or fault of the UCI? If you want the information send a note to the promoter or broadcaster to buy a radar gun or ask the timing company to set a speed trap up. Nobody is trying to keep it secret. Top speed is around 72 kph about 10 kph faster than me with a tail wind. On a live feed you can do it with a stop watch if you can start your watch at any distance marker to the finish and do the math. 60 KPH is 1000 meters in 60 seconds or 100 meters in 6 seconds, 200 meters in 12 seconds, etc.
The UCI is only the organizer at 1 race. World Championships. Even at that they are at arms length since some local promotor promises to do that for the UCI by meeting their every request as set out in a contract. The organizer signs and pays big money to do it too.

 

[il_fiammingo]

Can anyone offer any suggestions? With the UCI, I'm thinking draconian decisions or plain laziness OR afraid it might damage the image of the sport as sprints might not always be that fast..maybe?

Because it doesn't matter.

 

[skippy]

Frequently in broadcasts we see the speedo of a vehicle following a racer both on the flat and down hills !

UCI as said before by others subcontract the set up of the "Worlds" but that does not stop them from encouraging "Race Organisers" from putting in the measuring equipment at certain points on the final kilo , it would appeal to many Non Cyclists as well as the fans .

Being able to see the race pass the finish would also serve as warning to the general public that their perception of cyclists being an obstacle on the road does not always hold true .

Many cyclists find little difficulty in exceeding 20mph speed limits but the motorist will still insist on passing them and slamming on the brakes because they do not wish to be ticketed ! Why pass a cyclist to show how "stupid" you can be ?

 

[flicker]

Because it doesn't matter.

On the road, true. Many variables. In matched sprint it is the amount of seconds one cover in 200 meters.

 

[Waterloo Sunrise]

Frequently in broadcasts we see the speedo of a vehicle following a racer both on the flat and down hills !

UCI as said before by others subcontract the set up of the "Worlds" but that does not stop them from encouraging "Race Organisers" from putting in the measuring equipment at certain points on the final kilo , it would appeal to many Non Cyclists as well as the fans .

Being able to see the race pass the finish would also serve as warning to the general public that their perception of cyclists being an obstacle on the road does not always hold true .

Many cyclists find little difficulty in exceeding 20mph speed limits but the motorist will still insist on passing them and slamming on the brakes because they do not wish to be ticketed ! Why pass a cyclist to show how "stupid" you can be ?

20mph speed limits? Geez, and I thought Britain was bad.

 

[brianf7]

Cycling sprints swimming and tennis are filmed with a long lens from some distance so they are naturaly slowed down If it was put on TV at 90 kmh you would have same issues as we have trying to judge a sprint without a camera,
imposible to do 100 riders at that speed you would not see it on TV.

So then it has nothing to do with UCI buy more the TV cameras and they point them where they are told to by the commercial sponsors and TV statioins.

 

[happychappy]

20mph speed limits? Geez, and I thought Britain was bad.

Britain IS bad. It's a terrible place to live especially if you plan on putting big hours out on the open roads. That's ignoring the fact that it's almost entirely populated by complete and utter scum. Can't wait 'till I'm earning enough to get out of this ****hole.

 

[palmerq]

Britain IS bad. It's a terrible place to live especially if you plan on putting big hours out on the open roads. That's ignoring the fact that it's almost entirely populated by complete and utter scum. Can't wait 'till I'm earning enough to get out of this ****hole.

Calm down, it's not that bad in blighty :S Well it's not too great for cycling to be fair but it isn't terrible either.

Anyway getting back on topic, I just though no one bothered measuring it, I guess you would need a radar gun or something and no one has one. It would be quite interesting if they did though, I would like to see the final speeds they manage.

 

[Waterloo Sunrise]

Britain IS bad. It's a terrible place to live especially if you plan on putting big hours out on the open roads. That's ignoring the fact that it's almost entirely populated by complete and utter scum. Can't wait 'till I'm earning enough to get out of this ****hole.

Happychappy

Lolocaust

 

[Buffalo Soldier]

Well, is it ever measured?

I remember they used to show sprint speed at tour the france.

 

[Christian]

I think the main problem is broadcast times. For most non-GT races, the broadcast is very limited, and the networks barely wait for the stage and overall results to move on to the next program. I can understand that - time is money, especially in TV. And then you have a race that is slower than planned and is already going longer than its actual slot ... they're not going to wait for finding out the final speed.

What they could do however would be setting up those self-controlling radars at the finish. They have them at the entrances of villages over here, and they're supposed to make you notice when you're going over 50 km/h. I have seen pictures of races where the peloton was crossing one of those radars at much higher speed

 

[beelzebozo]

So it seems the answer is no one has bothered to do it. It's surprising considering it's a pretty common feature in track cycling, at least on tv. They can afford a helicopter, guess they don't have much change after that!

 

[mastersracer]

cycling coverage remains in the dark ages - I can't think of a single innovation over the last 25 years. At least the Italians use a split screen sometimes (whereas French directors like to watch riders being spit off the back at key moments instead of the race at the front). No reason you couldn't show real time power, speed etc of a few sprinters and even get a few cameras or mics into the action.

 

[Ildabaoth]

My two cents. I think the final sprint speed is not relevant information, because it depends on a lot of factors like the road condition, the slope and the weather, including, specially, the wind speed and direction. That way, the final speed, as a parameter, is pretty much meaningless. Not just meaningless, but also misleading, because you can judge a sprinter quality accordingly to his top speed, neglecting if he was helped by the wind or by the slope. Currently, one judge one sprinter according to his results and his competitors, which, in my opinion, is a lot more accurate way.

 

[roundabout]

I remember sprint speeds being shown on TV before, allthough for the life of me i can't recall the race.

 

[Christian]

cycling coverage remains in the dark ages - I can't think of a single innovation over the last 25 years. At least the Italians use a split screen sometimes (whereas French directors like to watch riders being spit off the back at key moments instead of the race at the front). No reason you couldn't show real time power, speed etc of a few sprinters and even get a few cameras or mics into the action.

Dude. French broadcasting rules Italian broadcasting big time. Talk about the route of your prologue being in the landing zone of one of Europe's biggest airports. Major fail