Despite its popularity among TV viewers, the future television broadcast of race radios at the Tour de France has been thrown into doubt, with six teams telling Cycling Weekly that under current conditions they would not agree to the program next season, while Tour organisers, ASO, have admitted that they’re struggling to make the project financially sustainable.
The scheme, inspired by Formula One’s broadcasting of race radios, was first piloted at the 2022 Tour de France Femmes Avec Zwift, and introduced in the men’s race a year later with 17 of the 22 competing teams signing-up. A team of three people listen into each transmitted audio and decide which comments should be broadcasted – usually with a delay of between 15 and 30 minutes, depending on the nature of the material.
