The 'peloton' goes high-tech

Technology enter the professional peloton. For the first time ever, cycling enthusiasts will have the opportunity to see what Contador, Froome, Sagan and other see while racing in the Tour de France thanks to small video cameras.

On board video cameras are a common thing in motorsport for the simple reason that these cameras can deliver staggering images. UCI asked for teams permission and their project received the “green light” so, every day, four riders from two different teams will carry an “ultra light” camera.

Everyone that knows the world of cycling knows this sport is all about power to weight ratio. Having this in mind, a conventional “GoPro” camera would not have been accepted so UCI had to turn to specialized manufacturers. There is no official information on the technology used in the 2014 edition of the Tour de France, but UCU tested out allegedly the same technology in this years Tour of California. In that race, they used the “CM-1000 HD” video camera produced by Shimano. The company claims it only weighs 86 grams.

Because the camera is so small, it has no internal storage so it records on an SD card of up to 32 GB. UCI asked the riders who used these cameras to start recording before key moments. The CM-1000 HD cam can record in FULL HD mode at 30fps, or in HD Ready mode at 120 fps.

Check out these images published by UCI: