Operation Gadget

Category: 2004 Tour de France

  • Translating Tour de France News in Major Non-English Publications

    Reading Time: < 1 minute One of the techniques I’ve relied on this year while watching the Tour de France is reading non-English publications with the assistance of Google Language Tools. As a result, I’ve been able to read articles that appear in L’Equipe, Le Monde, Marca, and Gazzetta dello Sport, all major print publications…

  • Oakley Thump Eyewear with Integrated Portable Audio Player Demonstrated to Lance Armstrong

    Reading Time: 2 minutes On Saturday, TDFblog reported that Lance Armstrong was photographed wearing a prototype Oakley product combining sunglasses with a portable audio player. Gizmodo reported on this photo as well, saying that Armstrong wore the prototype during the Prologue time trial, citing a SunSentinel.com article for attribution. These articles were pointed out to…

  • USPS Cycling Team Officials Driving Subaru Legacy GT Wagons in the Tour de France

    Reading Time: < 1 minute Several publications have referred to the follow cars driven by the U.S. Postal Service Cycling Team as Subaru GT’s. I did a little bit of research and found out that the specific model is the Subaru Legacy GT or Subaru Legacy GT Limited station wagon. These are not the most…

  • Wireless Services and Handheld Applications to Help You Follow the Tour de France

    Reading Time: < 1 minute A few Operation Gadget readers have asked for pointers to mobile resources to help Tour de France fans follow the stages while they are at work. Here’s our list: Mobile-friendly Websites Yahoo! Cycling BBC Sport / Cycling Eurosport Cycling SMS USA Outdoor Life Network Stage Results, subscribe at http://ww2.olntv.com/OLN-wireless-tdf04.asp PalmOS…

  • Missing the French Language TV Graphics on the Tour de France

    Reading Time: < 1 minute One of the big differences between Outdoor Life Network’s coverage of the Tour de France this year and last is the complete absence of any on-screen graphics in the French language. The momentary appearence of graphics saying things like “Tete de Course”, “etape”, and “l’arrivee a 10km” didn’t take anything…

  • Revised Team Time Trial Rules Disproportionately Hurt Gilberto Simoni and Team Saeco

    Reading Time: 2 minutes If you are following the Tour de France, you probably heard about the revised Team Time Trial rules long before the Tour started. Originally, I understood that a team’s losses would be limited to three minutes relative to the winning team’s finish time. If this had been the case, I would…

  • Tyler Hamilton Foundation Sponsors Tour de France Stage 13 on the Big Screen

    Reading Time: < 1 minute Earlier today, I learned that the Tyler Hamilton Foundation will be hosting a special closed circuit presentation of Tour de France Stage 13 on Saturday, July 17, at movie theaters across the United States. These events will benefit the charities associated with the THF, Multiple Sclerosis and Junior Cycling. Tickets…

  • Bobby Julich Rides Tour Team Time Trial Wearing a Camelbak

    Reading Time: 2 minutes If you watched the Tour de France Team Time Trial earlier today, you may have seen Bobby Julich, the American rider on Team CSC, wearing a Camelbak hydration system. This is the first time I ever saw a rider wearing a hydration pack during a Tour stage. But, it was obvious…

  • Three Distinct Flavors of Tour de France Coverage on OLN

    Reading Time: 2 minutes I had a chance to sit down yesterday and watch all of the Outdoor Life Network’s coverage of the Tour de France. I found it somewhat different from the coverage they put forth last year. Here’s a summary: AOL for Broadband Pre-race Show: This program is anchored by Al Trautwig and…