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Mon 13 Jul, 7:06 pm UTC

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Tour de France news: race radio ga-ga

By AFP & BikeRadar

The 10th stage of the Tour de France will start under a cloud after 14 rebel teams and race organisers reached a stalemate Monday in the row over the banning of radio communication.

So far 14 of the 20 teams on the Tour have signed a petition protesting against the decision by the International Cycling Union (UCI) to ban radio communication between riders and team managers for two stages this week.

Representatives from the 14 teams, the race jury chief and Tour organisers met here on Monday, during the race's rest day, but failed to reach an agreement and it remains to be seen what action the teams take on Tuesday.

"Fourteen teams have written to Pat McQuaid (UCI president) and to Christian Prudhomme (the Tour's director) demanding this measure is cancelled," race director Jean-Francois Pescheux confirmed after the meeting.

Pescheux also added that teams who break the rules risk being thrown out of the race and fined between 100 and 10,000 Swiss francs (70 to 70,000 euros).

During each stage's racing, team managers normally communicate with their riders, who wear ear-pieces, by radio to advise on tactics, approaching hazards and other important information.

But Tour organisers, following initial discussions between the UCI and the teams' own representatives' groups, are insisting on a return, albeit just for two stages, to the old days to make the race more exciting and to test the riders' initiative.

There will be radio silence for both Tuesday's 194.5km stage from Limoges to Issoudon and Friday's 200km-long ride from Vittel to Colmar.

Only six teams, two foreign (Garmin, Skil) and four French (Agritubel, Bouygues Telecom, Francaise des Jeux and Cofidis) have not signed the petition and the 14 teams claim there are safety issues.

But the team managers who have signed are said to be furious they were not consulted by the UCI about the banning of radios before the decision was taken on June 19.

"The Tour has gotten so big and busy with so many cars on the route that it is completely unjustifiable and unacceptable that in the biggest event of the year, there is an experiment to see what will happen without radios," Astana team manager Johan Bruyneel said over the weekend.

"We can't accept that. I don't understand why there should be two days without radio."

Late on Monday, Jonathan Vaughters, the president of the body representing pro cycling team, offered a compromise if the radio silence ban was adhered to for Tuesday's stage and then abandoned for Friday.

And Bruyneel offered another suggestion that only two cyclists per team ride with the ear-piece and give instructions.

© 2009 AFP & BikeRadar

What do you think? Race radio use good or bad for the sport? Follow BikeRadar on Twitter at http://twitter.com/bikeradar.

User Comments

There are 8 comments on this post

Showing 1 - 8 of 8 comments

  • I think that the radio ban is a good idea in that it will force the riders to use their initiative. Whilst they are at it, they should do something to restrict the number of cars on the course.

  • What a load of rubbish, the UCI are turning into the FIA i swear, what i mean by thiis is that when everything is running smoothely and there are no issues or problems, the organisers decide to ban something or implement a new rule. I really don't see what the problem is tbh because a lot of other sports and motorsports use ear pieces.

  • If the UCI is truly interested in revisiting yesteryear, it should ban all team cars as well. With no way to communicate w/riders, team cars will be all over the course trying to stay in touch with riders who for the most part, have not been taught nor have any experience with thinking on their own while on the saddle.

    I predict that things will be so chaotic on Tuesday as a result of the ban that the UCI will abandon the ban scheduled for Friday. If the UCI wants to ban radios, teams should be allowed time (preferably an entire racing season) to train and encourage their riders to make independent and correct decisions when on the road. That said, maybe radios should be banned from the sport altogether with limits placed on what team cars can and cannot do!

  • The protesting directors are playing the "safety" card, in hopes that it trumps any other considerations. Radios provide enormous convenience and efficiency but

    detract from the purity of riders competing against each other on the road.

    I think it's entirely doable but expect all the disgruntled directors to do their best to insure chaos.

    How about a day on say, 1968-72 era bikes? With retro style kit with current sponsor names.

  • The biggest problem with the UCi, and for that matter the FIA, is that they are unaccountable. We only need to go back to the Graham Obree debarcle and various instances of restrictive and reactionary changes to rules. The UCI needs to be restructured !! Rule changes should only be made once per year by a committee which includes team,rider and federation representitives!

    The issue re race-radios is secondary here. If I was on the rule committee, I would vote to ban them though. The safety issue is quite frankly a red herring. Yeah, the team cars need radio's to communicate with the chief commisaire but thats it!

    I

  • What happened to my post!?

    The UCI is accountable to the national federations, they choose the board.

  • And by the looks of it today's stage seems to be pretty good with no major problems, just like the old days... :-) Much better!

  • It's not like the tour didn't run for nearly 100 years without radios, it seems today's riders can still use their own brains. Hopefully this will be the beginning of the end for manager-rider radios

  • 1

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