Garmin Chipolte Kit
Some of my regular readers might know that I’m a cycling fan, so it is pretty cool to see a big company like Garmin sponsoring a popular team in this year’s tour. VeloNews has an article today showing off the new team kits which look great, and talking about how GPS technology could provide team Garmin with an advantage going into this year’s Tour. I’ll be spending the next few weeks glued to the TV early in the morning. 
Pressed to elaborate on how Garmin’s GPS technology could provide the team with an advantage, Vaughters explained that radio communication between riders and team directors largely involves letting riders know about upcoming road and wind conditions.
“Right now we are the only team that has a unit on their bikes that can measure power, speed, cadence, heart rate, temperature, elevation gain and upcoming terrain changes,” he said. “Our riders can look down and see all of this information. And for anyone who has ever been in the race caravan, you realize how fraught with error radio technology is. Sometimes the radios work, sometimes they don’t, sometimes you’re dealing with different languages.
“I know people think team directors are in the car controlling their riders with a joystick over race radio, but that’s not the case. Riders are more in control of tactics than directors, but riders need good information from directors to make good tactical decisions. Now they can make decisions based on what is in front of them. I know it seems small, but you would be amazed what a difference little things make in bike racing.”
