Final stages of the men's road race at Paris 2024 OlympicsOn the climb to Montmartre Remco evenepoel He landed his decisive blow. He is in a solitary escape, his advantage immediately increasing over MadouasBut he doesn't know: the motorbike with the blackboard is behind, the radios can't be used. The Belgian talks excitedly to the TV cameraman's motorbike, nervously pointing to his wrist: "How much of an advantage do I have?" he asks without answer.First there had been the puncture. The great fear. Which he wouldn't have felt, knowing the abyss he had dug…
Radio, yes or no?
The Olympic race brought up the age-old question of whether to race with or without radio communication with the team car. Let's face it: The controversy surrounding this aspect, tinged with nostalgia for the good old days, seems a bit stale. It is true, however, that a race experienced without this technological aid is very different from the ones we are used to.
Davide Craved, who is Remco's sport director and shares most of the season with him, experienced the five-ring race with great interest, even if as a spectator, and he too was struck by this aspect which was overlooked by many.
«It was clear – he says – that the riders were a bit disoriented. We're used to racing a certain way, but when you find yourself in a different situation in major races, everything becomes more difficult. Surely, if Remco had known the advantage, he would have dealt with the puncture with less stress, but you have to understand that, he risked seeing his lifelong dream dashed."
What happened has reopened the debate and you, who also have experience of "previous cycling", what do you think?
Each rider takes part in 70-80 races a year, almost all of them with radios, I find it contradictory that these events take place without... Either always or never.Cycling is one thing, the rules must always be the same. Not having them changes a lot, especially on a tactical level. One aspect that few considered: in Paris, the teams with a contingent of three or four riders needed references; one of the riders would turn to the team car called ahead. Multiply this by more teams and more cases. I say that from a security point of view it was a significant risk…
Many regret the past…
It's redundant, like saying things were better before cell phones. But they're here, they're part of our lives now. Clearly, everything changes; it's part of the game. Radios have great utility in terms of security, you immediately get a sense of what happens with a fall, a puncture. Their primary function is this. Let's put it this way: A sports director without a radio is like having a soccer coach on the sidelines who can't give any instructions to his players. Does that make sense?
But you know and have lived the “before”…
If we talk from a tactical point of view, it's not that they had this great innovation. Simply... you studied the route very carefully and gave directions first, then you communicated while running through your teammates who came to the team car or to the refueling stations. It's undoubtedly better now, there's less confusion in the race and the riders are able to give 100 percent. But I would emphasize the safety aspect, also because the roads have changed compared to before.Just think that in the Bergamo area when I was racing, you could count the roundabouts on the fingers of one hand, now there must be 300… And then there are speed bumps, traffic islands… Riders must be able to pedal safelyIt's true that there was a crash at the last Tour that cost Roglic the race, but the number of accidents has greatly reduced compared to the past.
There's another difference compared to the past: today, TV channels broadcast the races in their entirety, and those in the flagship cars have an extra eye at their disposal...
That's true up to a point. Sure, in the past, if you were lucky, you'd get live coverage of the last hour or hour and a half, but today the races are shown in their entirety. But if it's an advantage for those at home, for us in the flagship it changes little also because few realise that there is no immediate perception, every event is always captured with a few seconds' delayHaving the group's direct voice for each individual event is very important for us team leaders. The web also helps, yes, but it doesn't provide instantaneous information about what's happening, and we need to know everything immediately, for the benefit of the kids.
