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
Paul J 8 minutes ago
@PoorInRichfield Except the 1×13 has even thinner sprockets again than the 2×11, which will wear a little quicker. And, despite the thinner sprockets, the 13 will be slightly wider - combined with the single front ring, your chain will be pulled out to greater angles in your higher and lower gears. Again, a bit more friction, a bit more wear.
Smoggysteve 10 minutes ago
@PoorInRichfield 1. I never mentioned cross chaining. 2. "a 1×13 with the correct cassette can nearly mirror what I have." Shimano generally do at least 2 or 3 cassette variations. Especially at 105 / Ultegra level. So that probably wont be an issue. And since thay aint cheap, having 1 cassette that can cover everything from potentially 10t to 36t like Sram do but with the added capacity to have a1:1 ratio or very close to it is something that many people would find very appealing
perce 22 minutes ago
@Clem Fandango I agree. Didn't left wing power grab get in trouble by trying to pass themselves off as female morris dancers? I seem to remember they changed their name to fluffy morris for a while which indirectly led to the now infamous morris dancing wars of the early eighties.
mitsky 29 minutes ago
@mattw Good idea on the active speed control system. As I've said on other topics... "We have the technology... We just don't have the political will to make it happen." It could also be tied to the driver's insurance. IE, the more it is used, the lower the premium.
mdavidford 56 minutes ago
Checks out - where better to meet them than at her next court appearance?
belugabob 1 hour ago
One of the stated reasons for her needing to keep her licence was "So that she could continue to meet with criminals..." 🙄
PoorInRichfield 1 hour ago
@Smoggysteve I used the online gear calculator that compares what I have to what I want. When cross-chaining gears and duplicate gear ratios are removed from the 2x11 setup, a 1x13 with the correct cassette can nearly mirror what I have. The issue will be weather or not Shimano gives us more than one option for the cassette.
leedorney 1 hour ago
As much as I can see the logic of 1x - 2 rings are better than 1, we all know that 😉
mattw 1 hour ago
Lynda La Plante's (net worth: approx £25million) list of excuses was as long, as imaginative, and imo as fictional as one of her books, and she was also issuing threats to close down her business. It was interesting that she got a good bashing in the comments of both the Daily Mail and the Daily Telegrunt. But is it not now the case that all new cars have an "Active Speed Control" system, that is you push a button and it keeps you to the speed limits?
tomlew 1 hour ago
@Miller Pogi did not need R9300 to win. But he would've won on a -speed CUES, as drivetrains barely make a difference. Pogi did not need the new Shimano. But the new Shimano did need Pogi - for promotion.
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!