Red Bull have helped fans of mountain bike racing worldwide follow the elite ranks as they race the World Cup. Marathon racing has lacked such coverage – although some events like the Sellaronda Hero have ensured they have live feeds for friends, family and fans – and of course the ABSA Cape Epic have offered live coverage for the Prologue and final stage in recent years. However, at the XCM Worlds in Pietermaritzberg on 29th June, fans will be able to follow each moment of the the race at Cascades MTB Park in Pietermaritzburg, thanks to a new live streaming television collaboration.
While Pietermaritzburg’s recent international events such as the UCI MTB World Cup and the 2013 UCI MTB and Trials World Championships brought with them major global live streaming TV infrastructure, the 2014 Marathon World title decider does not, leaving the door open for local event organisers and the national federation to step in.
Cycling South Africa’s General Manager Mike Bradley said that their new collaboration with local live streaming company StreamIt360 had been tested during the South African National MTB Marathon Championships at the Cascades venue on Sunday 8 June, serving as a dress rehearsal for the World Champs. Without any advanced marketing, over 200 people watched the national marathon champs live streaming telecast, many of them from Europe.
“This proves that there is an on-going demand to watch our cycling events live,” said Bradley. “This new partnership to bring live streaming to all of our major events will give the events more visibility and more spectators, and thereby add more media value to each event and to the sport as a whole. A Marathon World Champs is pretty much the ultimate test, given the distances and logistical challenges, but I am confident that we will deliver top class production to the global audience at the end of the month. As far as we know, no-one has ever provided full live coverage of a marathon world championships before.”
Bradley also added that, with word of the live coverage already emerging on social media, interest was being expressed by TV channels worldwide to carry the live coverage.
With 95 kilometres of course to be covered, the live streaming telecast, which will be anchored by a panel of presenters, will use 12 cameras and a helicopter to provide coverage of the races. The use of a helicopter and open terrain are key, to get constant footage of the front of the race. XCM Worlds events are typically very high tempo, and likely to have a small, select group at the front of the race. Having cameras in the right areas to capture the selections as it’s made either physically or due to the technical nature is essential – and very hard to predict.
The technical demands of covering the event live included dealing with weak cellphone signals and communications facilities in the remote parts of the route. Numerous camera sites will be serviced by fibre-optic cables and satellite uplinks, with the helicopter providing coverage in the most remote areas.
The production will include profiles and interviews with the key marathon personalities, and will be screened on televisions at the start/finish venue in addition to the worldwide live internet streaming platform.
Will it work? We will have to wait and see.