The announcement on Thursday by the Visma-Lease a bike team that it would use a van to collect live data during the Tour de France has raised eyebrows at the International Cycling Union (UCI), which “will carry out checks”. Two days before the start of the 111th edition in Florence, Jonas Vingegaard’s team said it was “proud to present its Control Room (control room), a van equipped with modern technologies to centralize the collection of data in real time during the Tour de France such as TV images, the latest weather information and race radio.
Visma regularly pinned by the UCI
“This allows us to collect and analyze even more live data and have a better overview of the race. We will be able to provide information to sports directors in the cars and help them make tactical decisions more quickly,” explained Mathieu Heijboer, performance director at Visma, referring to a “unique tool in cycling”.
The UCI responded with a statement in which the body said it was “currently carrying out checks to ensure that the system put in place by the team complies with the regulatory framework in force, particularly with regard to the collection and transmission of data.”
The Visma-Lease a Bike team prides itself on pushing the limits of performance optimization. But it is regularly criticized by the UCI, most recently for its particularly futuristic time trial helmets that were ultimately deemed non-compliant.
