Tissot says that this year’s Tour de France, which pushes off in Brussels on Saturday, will be the most sophisticated ever when it comes to timekeeping, processing and broadcasting of results for the race.
At the finish line for every stage, the transponder attached to each bicycle enables the rider’s identification thanks to an antenna connected to a decoder that sends a signal to the timing machine located in the control room known as the Chronopole.
The Chronopole is equipped with cameras capable of taking 10,000 images per second, representing a one ten-thousandth of a second accuracy. It’s the photo finish and it’s that which genuinely determines the result.
The Tour de France’s official jury validates rankings in collaboration with the timekeepers. In some instances they are modified as a result of race incidents involving penalties that increase the rider’s actual time.
Each morning, a team of 8 timekeepers for the road races and up to 16 for Time Trials put in place new infrastructures for the start of the race, the intermediary sprints and the finish line and that during three weeks and over a 3,500 kilometre itinerary in order to guarantee the timekeeping and the live broadcasting of the rankings to the race organisers, the commentators and the spectators.
Tissot will promote its 2019T-Race Cycling Tour de France as the ultimate watch for Tour fans.
It comes in black and yellow, the official colours of the Tour and has cycling-inspired touches such as lugs designed to look like the forks of a bike, pushers like brake levers, a tachymeter bezel respresenting the wheel and the back of the bracelet designed to look like a chain.
The 44.5mm steel watches have quartz movements and retail for £395.
