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 wrote 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.
He 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 also wrote 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.
John died from cancer in 2025, changing his name to John Abbott Valentine in the months before his death.
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Latest Comments
Mr Blackbird 24 minutes ago
@chrisonabike Tube lines are very bad. Lots of fine iron particles from brake and wheel wear
GravelIsNothingNew 28 minutes ago
Why so much focus on the timing of Traffic Scotland’s post? …this is relentless. Obviously even the Traffic Scotland employees need to re-sit their driving tests! …Why not a campaign for every driver to have to re-take their driving tests? This is so serious.
belugabob 29 minutes ago
@Pub bike ...or just make active travel more attractive/feasible than the personal motor car, thereby reducing the pollution (not to mention congestion/noise/space)
GravelIsNothingNew 34 minutes ago
Obviously every driver needs to sit a new driving test. …Why not prioritise this as a National Health initiative ?
chrisonabike 43 minutes ago
@mitsky in fact I think eg. Dutch shopkeepers and business owners could point to cold hard cash figures! And there's at least one UK government document (some years back now - "the value of cycling" - via University of Birmingham and the DfT) where they go through the numbers. But with motoring crucially we normally discount all or most of the *costs* *. Then, since different monies are accounted for (or not...) under different budgets / departments / different levels of government changes can get always be argued over. ("My department is ultimately measured getting more *motor* traffic to flow, ergo active travel always looks like a problem"). * eg. Perhaps we just focus on "road taxes" vs. the "road budget" and ignore all the "externalities" (which are normally "off-budget" by design). This is a comfort to those who may not wish us to know that driving is a net cost to all taxpayers whether they drive themselves or not. (Where active travel is calculated as a net benefit). There are arguments for everyone paying this, but much better not to have them!
Terry Hutt 45 minutes ago
@mdavidford Ah so this image is before the pannier gets pushed down. It won't work with my panniers then. Thanks
Terry Hutt 47 minutes ago
@mdavidford Thanks I see it in the side photo now. It's a bit difficult to know what is part of the rack and what is part of the side panel. Maybe the reviewer could use a hot pink rack next time :-)
SVXY 52 minutes ago
@SVXY Yes and a fisherman can be convicted of that offence as a cyclist can be convicted of careless cycling
SVXY 53 minutes ago
@SVXY Yes and a fisherman can be convicted of that offence as a cyclist can be of careless cycling
chrisonabike 1 hour ago
Still better safe... add it to the list along with hi-vis (with reflectives), helmet, definitely not sandals...
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!