The use of a drone to beam live TV pictures across the globe during last month's UCI Cyclocross World Championships was a major hit with fans. And last weekend the organisers of Spanish stage race O Gran Camiño also used unmanned aerial vehicles for their TV broadcast.
On that occasion, the drone broadcasting the TV images of race leader Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) during Sunday's TT seemed to fly very close to the Danish rider. It also crisscrossed from one side of the road to the other above him, as it did on the final climb to the finish the previous day.
There was some concern expressed on social media about how close the drone appeared to get to the Tour de France champion on Sunday, on his way to his third stage win in as many days. Now the UCI has revealed it too has concerns about how the drone was used last weekend and has contacted the O Gran Camiño organisers about the matter.
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"The UCI is concerned about the use of drones at O Gran Camiño and is in contact with the organiser to understand the organiser's risk assessment in this particular case," said Auréile Perrod of the UCI's communications department.
However, the UCI also said it wanted to have closer talks with race promoters to ensure rider safety was improved when aerial images, including from drones, formed part of the broadcast package for major pro races.
"It is the UCI's task to create a more open dialogue with organisers and remind them of their obligations when they capture videos or images from the air," the UCI's Mr Perrod added.
When it came to race promoters planning to use drones to liven up TV coverage, the UCI added it must "remind" those organisers "their responsibility was (to ensure) the use of aerial images cannot affect the riders performance or safety".
Vingegaard's team told Danish newspaper Berlingske Tidende (B.T.) it did not plan to object in any way to the manner the drone was manoeuvred around the rider. However, Jumbo Visma also wanted assurances this form of capturing footage would be controlled and safe for the riders.
"We expect and count on the UCI and race organizers to ensure that there are proper conditions in this context, so that we can all benefit from this kind of drone footage," a Jumbo Visma spokesman told B.T.
