Drone footage of cycle races - no thank you!

In the past few months there have been calls for more "exciting" race footage, in particular on-bike cameras (which give a scarily realistic view of the quiet but deadly proximity of the other riders) and drones.

Now, I had my reservations about drones right from the start - they are so close to the remote-controlled cars of my childhood, and I still have the ghosts of the bumped shins to remember them by, not to mention the number of damaged skirting boards and furniture legs.

Then we moved on to radio controlled aircraft, or "crashing in three dimensions" as it was known.

At least drones are built on helicopter technology, so the operator can let them hover if they need to, for example, blow their nose, sneeze, answer a question, drink a cup of coffee etc.

But cycle races go rushing along the road at scary speeds, so the operator needs to stay within range: how exactly was that going to work? On the back of a moto? Seriously? All it takes is one minor hold-up and the drone is out of range, uncontrolled, and whee! splat! this happens:

Skier Marcel Hirsher almost decapitated by falling drone.


In case that link doesn't work, it's footage of a downhill skier being very nearly slaughtered by a drone that plummets out of the sky, missing him by about a foot and a half, and at the speed he was going, a fraction of a second later could have ended his career, if not his life.

This is the moment it hit the ground, and if you bear in mind that he was really shifting, it can only have missed him by the narrowest of margins.

And the photo is not deceptive, it's not a little hand-sized thing, it's about the size of his body, plus rotors and exterior frameword, antenna etc.

So no, Mr UCI and Mr ASO, we most certainly do not want bloody dangerous drones zipping around over the peleton!

Thank you!