As if hazardous street furniture, fans getting in the way on climbs, and the occassional badly-driven car weren't all enough to contend with, these riders at the Vuelta a Burgos had a TV helicopter get a bit too low.
Video: What happens when a TV helicopter gets a bit too close to a bike race?
This chopper pilot got a bit carried away in pursuit of a great shot
Tue, Aug 13, 2013 13:04
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John has been writing about bikes and cycling for over 30 years since discovering that people were mug enough to pay him for it rather than expecting him to do an honest day’s work.
He was heavily involved in the mountain bike boom of the late 1980s as a racer, team manager and race promoter, and that led to writing for Mountain Biking UK magazine shortly after its inception. He got the gig by phoning up the editor and telling him the magazine was rubbish and he could do better. Rather than telling him to get lost, MBUK editor Tym Manley called John’s bluff and the rest is history.
Since then he has worked on MTB Pro magazine and was editor of Maximum Mountain Bike and Australian Mountain Bike magazines, before switching to the web in 2000 to work for CyclingNews.com. Along with road.cc founder Tony Farrelly, John was on the launch team for BikeRadar.com and subsequently became editor in chief of Future Publishing’s group of cycling magazines and websites, including Cycling Plus, MBUK, What Mountain Bike and Procycling.
John has also written for Cyclist magazine, edited the BikeMagic website and was founding editor of TotalWomensCycling.com before handing over to someone far more representative of the site’s main audience.
He joined road.cc in 2013. He lives in Cambridge where the lack of hills is more than made up for by the headwinds.
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Latest Comments
bikercub 18 minutes ago
I'd like to see some reviews of the IGPSport cycle computers & smart lights which are available on Amazon in the UK. They appear to be well equipped with GPS models in the £150 - £200 price bracket offering great features and very good value for money. If they are good enough to be supporting the Groupama-FDJ United World TourCycling team, we should be looking at them as a contender. It would be interesting how these compare to the Garmin and Wahoo models that are considered the industry standard.
mdavidford 33 minutes ago
Happens on a regular basis - seems to be one of the many exciting new 'features' of the new platform.
kinderje 34 minutes ago
@Rendel Harris Thanks for that - every day's a school day. I had actually put 'Pedant mode off' under my comment but it didn't post and then as we all know, and are frustrated with, we can't edit posts any more. I will not correct anyone again - however, -ize still looks too American English for me. Cheers
HarrogateSpa 36 minutes ago
We also have a greater volume of traffic, including on residential roads which were once quiet. Spending billions on infrastructure such as protected cycle tracks and modal filters is the only thing that will lead to mass cycling. Look at London. Why is there mass cycling there? Infrastructure. The Netherlands? The same reason. And often the only way to achieve meaningful change is reallocating some space and priority from motor vehicles, which is why the government's 'don't scare the horses' attitude is concerning.
Rendel Harris 42 minutes ago
You think there might be a clue to that in the name "City Light Set"? Marking it down because it's no good for fast riding on unlit roads seems somewhat akin to buying a micro-hatchback and then complaining that it's rubbish at pulling a plough.
quiff 51 minutes ago
This is like something from a kids' activity book. "The editor has a bit of a hangover this morning. Can you help him match the headline to the correct story?"
Rendel Harris 1 hour ago
@kinderje Are you aware that -ise endings are actually the newer form, having supplanted -ize (as used by Shakespeare, the King James Bible and Jane Austen, amongst many others) in the mid 19th century? Etymologically there is a far better argument for -ize endings for words with Greek and Latin roots than the -ise ending which arose from Victorian publishers imitating French verb endings. Both endings are now regarded as acceptable in British English, although the Oxford style guide recommends -ize. It is most certainly not incorrect.
mdavidford 1 hour ago
@Backladder Given that the makers are selling it as being useable on any ride on open roads, it doesn't seem unreasonable to try to test it in those conditions.
mdavidford 1 hour ago
'Leasting'? That's a whole 4 letters less.
mdavidford 1 hour ago
Although usually the easiest thing of all would be for them just to stop for a few moments while you cycle past them (which requires a lot less space to do safely than them passing you), but most people seem allergic to stopping, even for the briefest time.
11 thoughts on “Video: What happens when a TV helicopter gets a bit too close to a bike race?”
Helicopter incident at 44.25
Helicopter incident at 44.25 onwards.
it still looked quite high up
it still looked quite high up the draught must bee amazing to blow them off course.
billyman wrote:it still
It’s because the pilot had to change the pitch of the rotor and put more of an angle of attack into the blades to stop and hover. And, since he was right over the cyclists at the time, whoomp, there they go!
Just thought you might like to know…. :B
I’m sure it’s not the first
I’m sure it’s not the first time they’ve been blown off by someone with a big chopper.
ROFL
ROFL
Hahahaha! Awesome
Hahahaha! Awesome
Didn’t Moser use a helicopter
Didn’t Moser use a helicopter to win the Giro 😕
LOL, what an anticlimax of a
LOL, what an anticlimax of a finish.
Anything to win! Hover
Anything to win! Hover helicopters over your competition!
I don’t want to be picky,
I don’t want to be picky, but: The heli covering the race is a Eurocopter and the one being “apprehended” is a Robinson…Two completely different choppers. A Robinson couldn’t cut my grass if it tried….the Eurocopter is gas-turbine and a far more powerful. Just saying. B-)
No fair: a Robinson crashing
No fair: a Robinson crashing and burning would do a fine job of your grass!