Anna Kiesenhofer

RichN95.

kingstongraham said:

Obvious benefit is more work for these guys

How many riders can actually read the blackboard? You'd have to be right up the front. And there's only so much you can fit on it.

And it's not clear what any of that means.

m.r.m.

1st group with 6 people at 40 seconds
Rider with number 164 at 1 min 05 s
Peloton at 1 min 30 s

Not sure about the top:

You are at 135 km of 205 km? Not sure what the 145 then is.

RichN95.

m.r.m. said:

1st group with 6 people at 40 seconds
Rider with number 164 at 1 min 05 s
Peloton at 1 min 30 s

At 40s from whom?

There are three groups listed and three time gaps. There are only two gaps.

pblakeney

RichN95. said:

m.r.m. said:

1st group with 6 people at 40 seconds
Rider with number 164 at 1 min 05 s
Peloton at 1 min 30 s

At 40s from whom?

There are three groups listed and three time gaps. There are only two gaps.

From the leader?

ocdupalais

It’s the same handwriting as old school greengrocers, which is appropriate, seeing as the Dutch rode like lemons.
How French, though: sticking with the tradition of a blackboard when lit digital equipment might be a bit more 2021?
The temptation to do a little cock and balls every now and then surely surpasses all recorded limits of human resistance.

diplodicus

Riders 135, 145 and 205 at front,
chase group of 6 at 40s,
Rider with number 164 at 1 min 05 s
Peloton at 1 min 30 s??

Just guessing though

RichN95.

pblakeney said:

From the leader?

But they're the first group.

The whole thing is just ambiguous. It's not really a sign of a modern sport, is it? Youngsters watching must thing it's ridiculous.

Pross

The top line is the distance (either gone or remaining) and the total distance. It only takes one or two to see it and relay it.

davidof

ocdupalais said:

It’s the same handwriting as old school greengrocers, which is appropriate, seeing as the Dutch rode like lemons.
How French, though: sticking with the tradition of a blackboard when lit digital equipment might be a bit more 2021?
The temptation to do a little censored and balls every now and then surely surpasses all recorded limits of human resistance.

that's Claire Pedrono; she looks older today so I guess that is from some time back in the TdF. She wasn't on the tour this summer as she's had a baby.

Pauline Payen did the board this year, she works at Culture Velo in Louviers if anyone is passing that way. Here she is, in her day job



and working the slate




A blackboard is simple and works tbh.

RichN95.

Pross said:

The top line is the distance (either gone or remaining) and the total distance. It only takes one or two to see it and relay it.

How do they relay it? It will be like a game of Chinese Whispers (sorry if that phrase is offensive there days)

davidof said:

A blackboard is simple and works tbh.

Telegrams and fax machines work too. But we found something better.

pblakeney

RichN95. said:

pblakeney said:

From the leader?

But they're the first group.

The whole thing is just ambiguous. It's not really a sign of a modern sport, is it? Youngsters watching must thing it's ridiculous.

Who is the first group? The 1st group of 6 is 40 seconds behind the leaders.
Fairly straightforward if you ask me, which you did. 😉

davidof

RichN95. said:

Pross said:

The top line is the distance (either gone or remaining) and the total distance. It only takes one or two to see it and relay it.

How do they relay it? It will be like a game of Chinese Whispers (sorry if that phrase is offensive there days)

davidof said:

A blackboard is simple and works tbh.

Telegrams and fax machines work too. But we found something better.

You're sitting on the back of a motorbike doing 60kph, do you get out your smartphone app to try and faff around with your digital signboard or do you just write it on a slate with some chalk.

Or are you saying race radios have replaced the board, in which case, that is probably true for 95% of riders in the race 95% of the time.

RichN95.

davidof said:

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You're sitting on the back of a motorbike doing 60kph, do you get out your smartphone app to try and faff around with your digital signboard or do you just write it on a slate with some chalk.

Or are you saying race radios have replaced the board, in which case, that is probably true for 95% of riders in the race 95% of the time.

I'm saying the latter. It's just weird that the UCI controlled races remain stuck in the past. Especially in the races in which the teams don't rally have a working relationship.

m.r.m.

RichN95. said:

m.r.m. said:

1st group with 6 people at 40 seconds
Rider with number 164 at 1 min 05 s
Peloton at 1 min 30 s

At 40s from whom?

There are three groups listed and three time gaps. There are only two gaps.

From you. I'm presuming this is an example of a sign shown to the leader(s).

neonriver

Top section is the rider numbers in lead, second section 6 riders at 40s, then rider 164 at 1:05, finally peloton at 1:30, if you get used to seeing it it’s easy to know what it says

RichN95.

neonriver said:

Top section is the rider numbers in lead, second section 6 riders at 40s, then rider 164 at 1:05, finally peloton at 1:30, if you get used to seeing it it’s easy to know what it says

It's easier just have your DS tell you the pertinent information. Who is rider 164? Do they have to memorise the startlist?

ocdupalais

RichN95. said:

neonriver said:

Top section is the rider numbers in lead, second section 6 riders at 40s, then rider 164 at 1:05, finally peloton at 1:30, if you get used to seeing it it’s easy to know what it says

It's easier just have your DS tell you the pertinent information. Who is rider 164? Do they have to memorise the startlist?

Most riders will know the code - team leaders usually have numbers ending in ‘1’, Wanty Groupe Gobert riders don’t have numbers but emoji ‘🙄’, etc…

RichN95.

ocdupalais said:

Most riders will know the code - team leaders usually have numbers ending in ‘1’, Wanty Groupe Gobert riders don’t have numbers but emoji ‘🙄’, etc…

Van Aert was 4, Pogacar was 6, Carapaz was 60

Riders don't know the code as they usually have a radio.

ocdupalais

I was talking about the Tour.

ocdupalais

Big teams with race radios = maximum control in hands of the strongest.
Small teams with no race radios = anarchy (not chaos).

RichN95.

ocdupalais said:

I was talking about the Tour.

No-one's looking at the board at the Tour. It's for the cameras.

ocdupalais

The “sport” should be between the athletes on the road, court, field, etc - not decided by the “control centre”. In cycling, the big calls for the 20 something yr old riders are usually being made by 30-60 yr old geezers, fat b@stards and Cherie Pridham in the motor.

RichN95.

ocdupalais said:

The “sport” should be between the athletes on the road, court, field, etc - not decided by the “control centre”. In cycling, the big calls for the 20 something yr old riders are usually being made by 30-60 yr old geezers, fat b@stards and Cherie Pridham in the motor.

That's something of a myth though. The idea that DSs are managing riders decisions has little basis in reality.

ocdupalais

I’d say the women’s Olympic RR says otherwise.

RichN95.

ocdupalais said:

I’d say the women’s Olympic RR says otherwise.

No it doesn't. That says if you give bad information to riders they will make bad decisions.

ocdupalais

RichN95. said:

ocdupalais said:

I’d say the women’s Olympic RR says otherwise.

No it doesn't. That says if you give bad information to riders they will make bad decisions.

Or; if the riders are oblivious to the information that’s available to them because they are so used to race radios, then that implies that it is not them that pays attention to what’s going on, but their DSs.

DeVlaeminck

RichN95. said:

ocdupalais said:

The “sport” should be between the athletes on the road, court, field, etc - not decided by the “control centre”. In cycling, the big calls for the 20 something yr old riders are usually being made by 30-60 yr old geezers, fat b@stards and Cherie Pridham in the motor.

That's something of a myth though. The idea that DSs are managing riders decisions has little basis in reality.

I disagree and as recently as the Tour this year they had this discussion on Eurosport about how VdP is an exception to this.

mididoctors

diplodicus said:

Riders 135, 145 and 205 at front,
chase group of 6 at 40s,
Rider with number 164 at 1 min 05 s
Peloton at 1 min 30 s??

Just guessing though

This

phreak

She came 2nd in the 2018 Otzaler Radmarathon (https://services.datasport.com/2018/velo/oetztaler/#Marke2), which I know people will scoff at it being just a sportive, but at 227km with 5,500m of climbing spread across 4 passes, it's harder than any route in the ladies pro peloton.

alan_a

The board is still used at big races like the tour etc because in poor weather analogue still works. Also if the race is massively split up then you might be out of range of your team car so no radio.

This particularly would be the case for the auto bus on long mountain stages, they could be 30 minutes behind the race, and only 1 or 2 teams have left a car to take up the support duties for the sprinters = no radio for a large number of sprinters. Ok that’s not the pointy end, but still important.