UCI not happy

Controversy surrounding Visma team’s “control bus” at the Tour

His team receives Jonas Vingegaard's fitness data in real time.

(Bild: AFP/APA/Marco BERTORELLO)

The Visma team around Tour de France defending champion Jonas Vingegaard proudly reported on their "innovative control bus" shortly before the 111th edition of the Tour. It will provide the racing team with important data on the race in real time. The cycling world federation UCI was not happy with the innovation. It does not want to see the vehicle anywhere near the track.

That's the point: the sporting management in the cars behind the professionals would like to be better fed with information during the races. There are often signal failures in the TV images. According to a Visma press release, tactical decisions should be made more quickly. The team is considered a pioneer in the use of data.

When asked by the German Press Agency at the Tour organization ASO, a spokesperson confirmed that the UCI jury had prohibited the use of the van on the Tour route. There is no accreditation. The exact reasons were not given. On Friday, the world governing body had only announced that it would take a closer look at the bus. It said that sporting fairness and equal access to the technology had to be guaranteed. It is possible that the rule makers were concerned that unauthorized data could also reach the teams. For example, only the drivers are allowed to view body temperature and heart rate during the races.

Nothing to hide
The sports management of the Visma team, led by former professional cyclist Grischa Niermann, reacted with incomprehension. "The UCI has issued a statement, but nothing happens in this van that you couldn't see at home," he told the portal "Radsport-news". The bus is just a little more sophisticated, but it doesn't change the fact that Niermann can have "contact with anyone in the car at any time". He reacted calmly to the lack of accreditation: "The car doesn't necessarily have to be at the race, it can be anywhere."

Wout van Aert (l.) and Jonas Vingegaard

(Bild: AFP/APA/Marco BERTORELLO)

Red Bull team sports director Rolf Aldag can only understand the world governing body's approach to a limited extent. "If the UCI now believes that we're all going to ride by feel like we did 30 years ago, then it's clear that they're on the wrong track," he told dpa. He would like to see a "specification that must come" in order to create clarity. The US team EF reacted with humor. They posted a picture on "X" and asked Visma if they liked their control room. On it you can see: An employee sitting on the floor with a laptop and video cameras and a drone at the ready next to him.

After the second stage of the Tour, there was also some confusion surrounding the wearer of the yellow jersey. After all, Tadej Pogacar, Vingegaard, co-favorite Remco Evenepoel (BEL) and Olympic champion Richard Carapaz (Ecuador) are all tied at the top of the overall standings. Only the complicated Tour regulations provided clarity.

Favorites at the top at the same time
The placings on the first two stages were added together. Pogacar did best with 4th and 14th place (18 in total). Evenepoel, who finished 8th and 12th (20 in total), follows behind. Only then come Vingegaard (29th) and Carapaz (32nd). However, this also means that the jersey can change every day as long as no rider loses time. This calculation game could even continue until the individual time trial on Friday. Then there will be exact times, in case of doubt hundredths of a second will be the deciding factor.