Mapping The Tour de France Riders From Space

Roland Piquepaille writes "It was just a matter of time before someone gets the idea of using satellite localization to map the positions of the cyclists of the Tour de France. In a first test on July 21 during the ascension to l'Alpe d'Huez, ten riders were equipped with receivers and tracked by the EGNOS European satellite positioning system, a preparatory programme for the Galileo system. The European Space Agency (ESA) reports about this first test in "The best view of the Tour is from space." It's highly possible that all riders can get receivers as soon as next year. And this data will be available on the Web, so you will know in real time the exact location of your favorite champion. Read this summary for more details and a computer-generated image showing the respective positions of Lance Armstrong and Richard Virenque, the top-ranked climber, while climbing to the top of l'Alpe d'Huez."

Comments

Tracking teams and other uses

[Infonaut]

I find this interesting because it opens up the possibility of being able to track not only individuals, but teams. Knowing where a dominant rider is in relation to the supporting members of his team is vitally important in understanding the overall situation. I envision an applet that continuously checks the positional data and would allow me to watch the relative positions of riders from various teams using color coding.

Sometimes events inside the peloton go unwatched by commentators who are paying more attention to the leaders who have broken away from the main group. It would be nice to be able to see the jockeying that occurs between teams and individuals.

The data feed could also be used to help keep track of riders as they go after the green (points) jersey. This is a really exciting part of the Tour de France that never really gets as much attention as it deserves.

Let's hope this data gets put to good use. Kudos to the ESA!