Tour Tracker up and running for 2009 Tour of California

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Lance Armstrong at prologue

I just checked and the new and improved Tour Tracker is up and running at the 2009 Amgen Tour of California website. We're talking two video feeds — the main one boasting 4 times the resolution as last year.

It was running video highlights from the previous three Tours of California before the beginning of the prologue in Sacramento on Saturday. Phil Liggett was the commentator.

There are quite a few improvements in the latest edition of Tour Tracker, but be warned: you'll need to download Adobe flashplayer V. 10. It's a quick download.

One drawback I found immediately, however, was that my laptop doesn't have the muscle to run other browser windows while I have the Tour Tracker up and running.


Two feeds

Tour Tracker is streaming two video feeds this year — one a producer-enhanced channel and the other a “random camera” channel. Both feeds are beaming via satellite, so expect more reliability. The main channel will have 4 times the resolution.

If you sign up, you can customize your feed to track the GPS of certain riders. The signal comes in every 10 seconds, so Tour Tracker simulates their progress in between signals to give it a smoother look. (You can turn it off if you video seems choppy.)

Features

A rundown of all features includes:

Video in an expandable window, play by play, fan chat room, race stats, course profile and course map, stages, standings, photos, and rider tracking.

Versus

While you can check into Tour Tracker anytime, Versus also will be broadcasting about the last two hours of the race every day.

The broadcast of the prologue is scheduled to start 5 p.m. (EST) Saturday (2 p.m. Pacific time). You can see the entire Versus schedule here.

The prologue starts at 1:30 p.m. Pacific time and is expected to end at 4 p.m.

If you can't wait for the Versus coverage, check out the stage times in the right column and head over to Tour Tracker to follow the entire race.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2009/02/14/tour-tracker-up-and-running-for-2009-tour-of-california/

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