More and more teams are using satellite internet systems to provide fast and stable data and video in their team cars, creating a small but important technological marginal gain.
Cyclingnews noticed a growing number of white square Starlink antenna on team cars at this year’s Tirreno-Adriatico, with at least half of the teams using the system owned by Elon Musk’s SpaceX company.
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Team cars are mobile strategy vehicles, with one sports director driving the car in the race convoy behind the peloton and another sitting alongside in the passenger seat who watches the race on television.
The sports director also listens to communications from the race organisers and race officials via the traditional UHF Radio Tour system and then communicates information and strategy to their riders via their short-range team radio systems. Most teams also have vital route information from the VeloViewer WorldTour race hub and app, which provides detailed route information on a tablet.
The teams have used 4G and 5G mobile telecommunication networks for their TV streaming and data in recent years. However, a lack of mobile signal in the mountains or when the networks were overloaded meant the team cars were unable to follow the race and provide information in important moments of the races.
Starlink uses thousands of…
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