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The FredCast Cycling Podcast
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Driver in Brazil Mows Down Critical Mass Cyclists |
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Cycling is a Cause of Heart Attacks?!? |
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Race Face Shuttered by Bank |
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New York Bike Licensing Bill Fails |
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Novara Fusion Bikes |
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Felt Bikes |
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Rocky Mountain Bicycles |
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BBC Respond to Top Gear Host’s Comments |
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David on John and Ken in Los Angeles |
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Alabama Driver Gets 5 Years in Cyclist Death |
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Senseless Death in Maryland Could Yield Important Law Change |
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Cyclists Fends Off Leopard with his Mountain Bike |
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20% Off Epic Win Country Until End of April, 2011 |
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Results |
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Cadel Evans Wins Tirreno-Adriatico |
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UCI World Tour Rankings |
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Next World Tour Races |
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Milan – San Remo (March 19) |
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Volta Ciclista a Catalunya (March 21 – 27) |
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Gent Wevelgem (March 27) |
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The Radio Ban |
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The Rule |
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Cancellara Says it Could Have Fatal Consequences |
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Jens Voigt’s Open Letter to the Cycling Community |
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Giani Bugno Says Team Will Protest Later This Month |
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AIGCP Threatens Boycott of Beijing Race |
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Press Release |
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USA Cycling Risks UCI Suspension |
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Spanish Federation Says Contador Free to Race |
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Contador Hails ‘Victory’ |
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Showdown with UCI and WADA Looms |
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McQuaid Says Politics, Not Cycling Rules, Made the Decision |
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IOC Head Says NO to Food Defense |
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Takes 4th in His Return to Pro Cycling |
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Wins Vuelta a Murcia |
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South African Cyclist Banned for Clenbuterol |
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Riccardo RIcco |
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Leaves Hospital |
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WADA Heads Calls it ‘Tragic’ |
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Quits Cycling, Says He’ll Become a Bartender |
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Formal Charges Brought Against Puerto Doc |
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Riders and UCI Want 4-year Bans |
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Listener Hotline: (661) 513-FRED – or – (661) 513-3733 |
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HOW TO LISTEN TO THE FREDCAST |
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The FredCast Cycling Podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. |
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THE FREDCAST CYCLING PODCAST
Paul
While I was listening to the news about the radio ban I started thinking if somebody has suggested simply having the race officials reporting dangers ahead directly to the cyclists? With team members from all over the world I would suppose most communication is done in English anyway. If nobody have suggested this, maybe it isn’t all about the rider’s safety as some might want it to sound like… Of course there’s plenty of problems with this system as well, but if it actually is all about rider’s safety I think this might be a possible solution.
Another possible solution that I just heard the Velo Club Don Logan Podcast discuss is the possibility of having all radio channels open to everyone. That could also be quite interesting to those of us watching.
Fredcaster
Great comment, Paul! Your comment echoes something I’ve been thinking about as well. During professional cycling races there is a person in the Lead Comissar’s car who broadcasts over Radio Tour, a specific frequency designated for advising Directors Sportif about hazards, last-minute route changes, on-the-road rulings, etc. Allowing the riders to tune-in to this channel would certainly provide the measure of safety that Jens Voigt was talking about in his open letter.
I suppose having all radio channels open for everyone to monitor (which is what is done in NASCAR racing) would allow fairness and safety, while ensuring that Directors Sportif could choose which information from Radio Tour to pass along and which to keep from their riders.
If, however, the idea is to bring more excitement to racing by making the racers make their own decisions about on-the-road tactics, then the idea of just allowing them to hear Radio Tour would probably be the best compromise IMHO.
Tim Gilbert
This is a reasonable option. I doubt it will be considered by the UCI.
One possible snag is that riders would no longer be able to report problems on the road, such as a fallen rider. With this system, what would have happened when Jens Voigt had his infamous downhill TDF crash? Would following riders been given notice that they were heading into an accident area at high speed?
Fredcaster
I don’t think this is a problem. Between team cars, commissars, officials, referees, volunteers, motos, neutral technical support, TV crews, helos and others, there are more than enough eyes and ears on the road.
Kale
I think that there is probably enough officials and all that riders not being able to ‘speak’ would not be as much of an issue. I agree that the ability to warn riders of any safety issues far outweighs the need for more excitement. Maybe this would be a good compromise between the two. Maybe they could at least try it out. Has anyone done a really critical and objective look at communications regarding safety issues during a race where there are radios and races where there aren’t? How many times are safety items actually communicated versus how often they are just used for tactics.