Cameras with live-stream paraphernalia, new aero bikes and more from Le Tour
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GoPro has 12 cameras in the race that are circulating among different teams each day(Image credit: Jason Sumner)
The Tour de France experimented with live GoPro feeds during the neutral roll-out of stage 2. As part of production, Tommy Voeckler (Europcar) had this strapped to his seatpost(Image credit: Jason Sumner)
The Movistar team had these neat out-front Garmin mounts protruding from the proprietary bars of their Canyon Speedmax bikes(Image credit: Tom Ballard / Immediate Media)
The fittingly French saddle of FDJ's Arnaud Demare(Image credit: Tom Ballard / Immediate Media)
We're not quite sure, but we think Adam Hansen might be a little bitter about his 12th Grand Tour appearance(Image credit: Tom Ballard / Immediate Media)
Was Andre Greipel's sprint victory on stage two in part down to his desire to escape the threatening gorilla on his saddle?(Image credit: Tom Ballard / Immediate Media)
Greg Henderson was Lotto-Belisol pack horse for stage two, dragging around a few extra grams and adding a few extra grams of drag thanks to this GoPro(Image credit: Tom Ballard / Immediate Media)
If there were an award for the team with the longest cumulative stem lengths, Lotto-Belisol would win. This is Greipel's entry(Image credit: Tom Ballard / Immediate Media)
There's Greg Henderson's(Image credit: Tom Ballard / Immediate Media)
And finally Tim Wellens. That's not to mention Adam Hansen's 150mm monster (monster stem that is, just to be clear)(Image credit: Tom Ballard / Immediate Media)
Orica-GreenEdge don't have a full stable of the new and just-launched Scott Foil yet(Image credit: Tom Ballard / Immediate Media)
Poor Daryl Impey has had all Scott's aerodynamic tweaking undone with his front-mounted GoPro(Image credit: Tom Ballard / Immediate Media)
Bora-Argon 18 riders have a mix of Gallium Pro and Nitrogen bikes for this year's Tour(Image credit: Tom Ballard / Immediate Media)
AG2R had plenty of SRAM electric groupsets on show. Surely it's nearly time to let everyone else try it too(Image credit: Tom Ballard / Immediate Media)
Vying with Voeckler for the very shortest of short straws was Lotto-Jumbo's Thomas Leezer, who had to ride with this utterly monstrous front end GoPro set-up(Image credit: Tom Ballard / Immediate Media)
Let's hope there are no hight restrictions along the way(Image credit: Tom Ballard / Immediate Media)
Enve-ous? We are(Image credit: Tom Ballard / Immediate Media)
Voeckler rode this bike for the neutral section of about half an hour, then he switched bikes(Image credit: Jason Sumner)
Hometown hero Bauke Mollema rode a GoPro with a Chesty mount for the neutral section(Image credit: Jason Sumner)
Race numbers are standard. Skinsuits with pockets are becoming common. But Tour pros with Chesty mounts? Very much a new thing(Image credit: Jason Sumner)
Mechanics had to install mounts for the GPS transponders that all Tour racers have to use this year(Image credit: Jason Sumner)
K-Edge's new dual mount is seeing a lot of action at the Tour(Image credit: Jason Sumner)
Giant-Alpecin's Koen De Kort had a GoPro on for stage 2(Image credit: Jason Sumner)
Alexander Kristoff seems to feel pretty good about his chances for the green jersey(Image credit: Jason Sumner)
Kristoff has been racing Mavic's CXR60s with great success this year(Image credit: Jason Sumner)
When you're a sprinter like Bora-Argon 18's Sam Bennett, only two spots matter in the stage intermediate sprint and final sprint (Image credit: Jason Sumner)
Mark Cavendish will be looking to increase his career Tour stage win tally of 25 again this year(Image credit: Jason Sumner)
Mavic's neutral service car got a logo overhaul for 2015(Image credit: Tom Ballard / Immediate Media)
Cancellara rode this Trek Domane into yellow on stage two(Image credit: Tom Ballard / Immediate Media)
The Katusha team had these limited edition Russian-doll print bottles(Image credit: Tom Ballard / Immediate Media)
As the Tour de France peloton busied itself with this year's first road stage, we were more concerned about the moving cavalcade of bikes that allow the riders to do their jobs. BikeRadar stalked through the line of team buses, dodging harried mechanics, stressed PR folk and nervous pros to bring you the latest Tour tech.
While the GPS units weigh only 20-30g according to one team mechanic, the GoPro setups that at least one rider per team per day has to use weigh considerably more. There's also the grams of drag to consider too, especially on a day that delivered on its promise of crosswinds, splitting the field and reshuffling the standings.
There were two GoPro configurations. The Tour organizers were experimenting with live GoPro footage during the neutral rollout. This meant extra batteries and a broadcasting aerial added to the GoPro in order to stream video for some riders like Europcar's Tommy Voeckler who then switched bikes before the actual racing started. The second setup was just the standard GoPro mount, used on 12 bikes.
Of the 12 selected riders, some were instructed to turn on their camera with around an hour's racing to go, which could involve some sketchy reaching around in the peloton. GoPro officials put a rear-facing camera on Mark Renshaw's bike, hoping to get good leadout footage of Mark Cavendish winding up for the sprint. (Renshaw did lead Cav out, but Cav jumped too early and ended up fourth on the day.)
Lotto-Jumbo's Thomas Leezer had to put up with this on his bars – including aerial and extra battery pack — for the neutral rollout
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The idea behind the GoPro partnership is to get on-the-bike footage out as soon as possible. GoPro has had success in this arena with its immediate upload of X Games videos for use by broadcasters. We'll wait to see how this one 'plays' out.
