I’m not too familiar with the tech they use for live coverage, but I think it’s very rare they rely on cellular connections for the video streaming
I believe it’s moto->helicopter->airplane->satellite. No reliance on cell coverage
I did a quick search but couldn’t find anything more recent than 2015
I think the challenge lifetime faces is that the above costs more than they are willing to spend😬
ETA I think they are correct in not trying to broadcast live. What I find inexcusable is that they don’t put locally captured cameras and motos on course and edit a highlights package together the day after the race
Keegan’s 5th place is a very strong showing at the UCI gravel worlds. Getting beat by Valverde is a bummer but that dude is still ripping even though he’s “retired.”
Mohoric seemed so strong today and if it it wasn’t for WVA crashing he’d be somewhere on that podium too.
Overall I’d call it a a very successful showing for Keegan. One thing about a race like this is that the depth of strength and fitness is just a level or two above the domestic scene. Combine that with a shorter course that is semi-supported and it definitely favors the WT guys.
Run UCI gravel worlds at Unbound and there would be a slew of DNF’s and WTF’s.
I can’t wait for the race recaps though, definitely tuning in to that.
I did Unbound 200 this year and don’t think there was anywhere near that amount of pavement. Start, finish paved. Riding into aid stations paved. Don’t remember much other pavement. There was some mud though… remember that well.
I work in TV and broadcasting live is a major undertaking. The show I worked on was mostly to tape then aired later that same day. But occasionally we did live and the number of people required to make it happen is immense. Lifetime could maybe budget $100k or so for several teams spread across the courses to record to tape but the terrain would likely mean large gaps in coverage unless the had helicopters like how Cape Epic does it so that drives up cost exponentially.
He says “race files” but he’s quoting RWGPS, who had introduced their “Surfaces” feature about a year before that thread, and the data was (and is) incomplete. The rollout caused a lot of consternation among promoters and participants because of how poorly it matched reality. I’ve yet to do an event, two years after implementation, where the RWGPS Surfaces was remotely correct.
RWGPS uses Open Street Map which is not updated automatically and has to have road surface types manually entered from the default paved road. I’ve done a bunch of unpaved road labeling in Western IL and SE TN/NW GA where I’m from but it takes time and is generally the sort of backend work that isn’t much appreciated. Honestly I think if promoters are going to relay on RWGPS for their course dissemination they (the promoter) needs to get everything fixed in OSM first.
It’s also the difference between professional filming and amateur. Look at the IG of the finish of the most recent gravel race. Awesome to have her filming from the moto on her phone, but she didn’t know where to aim the camera and they couldn’t work out where to have the moto.
Honestly, that’s what I wish they’d do. Record to tape. Even cut it into 30 or 60min highlights packages if needed. And bang it on YT a day or few later.
Like IM used to. It doesn’t make for terrific live tv anyway.
100%….I have been advocating for this for years. Gravel races are not well suited for broadcast, either through technical issues, dust, lack of consistent action (i.e. a war of attrition), etc.
Hell, they used to do 30-60 daily highlights of the Tour, the Tour DuPont, etc. Being able to get a tightly edited recap of the race within 24 hiurs seems like it should not be a huge challenge.
And honestly, the season ending series doesn’t serve marketing purposes well. They could even release the previous race recap in the week leading up to the next race to help drive eyeballs.
Huh? I’ve ridden both. There is way less pavement. Especially at Unbound.
This gravel worlds course is also a lot shorter than the big US gravel races. Would be good to see next years be more like a monument in length, or at least 200km, and more gravel…
Me too. It would be easy to get a wild card from national federation to go there as it is crazy expensive to travel there good three years to improve my W/kg and pack riding skills!
This race should have been held as part of the ‘mega worlds’ in Glasgow. There’s so much quality gravel in Scotland with two world class venues within two hours’ drive of Glasgow.
This years swooping has only just begun…had my first of the season yesterday
If they use the Seven course for the World Champs which I think is the plan it is brutal. 3200m climbing in 125k with virtually no flat and plenty of deep pea gravel in places. The climbing is steep with lots of risk on the downs as well.
It wont be magpie season but you do have to be careful for roos and emus crossing the tracks.
You might be right - but what else could he do to make you think it is not out of the realm of possibilities? He dominates the North American scene and he got 5th at worlds. I don’t think he will win, I think he could win if the day went well.
If someone from jumbo visma, alpecin deceuninck, ineos, or uae emirates comes, then I would bet on them winning. But that is true for every race that is a single day race. That is not really a detractor from anyone in the field.
good three years to improve my W/kg and pack riding skills!
