Global IT solutions and services provider Dimension Data and Amaury Sport Organisation have teamed up to launch a new platform that intends to act as a second screen experience for fans following the 2016 edition of cycling’s Tour de France.
Race Center, a web-based application hosted on Dimension Data’s cloud platform and developed in partnership with ASO, combines video, live race data, photographs, social media feeds and race commentary, along with a new live tracking website, with the goal of providing viewers with a digital experience that goes beyond the television coverage of the race.
Race Center will become ASO’s digital hub of the Tour de France going forward. The Live Tracking website will offer information from each of the 198 riders in the 22 teams, including speed, distance between riders, composition of the race pelotons, wind speed and direction, as well as prevailing weather conditions.
Adam Foster, Dimension Data’s sports practice group executive, said: “This year, we’re working with a much broader palette, which means access to more meaningful race data, race routes, riders and current weather conditions. What’s exciting this year is the ability to deliver all this information to ASO through a unified digital platform. This makes the quality of the data even more valuable for viewer engagement, and speaks directly to a generation of younger viewers who rely on new technologies such as social media and live video to engage with their world.”
Christian Prudhomme, director of the Tour de France, added that the unprecedented growth in different social media channels such as Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and live video at last year’s race demanded these technologies be embraced and enhanced for modern viewers.
ASO signed a five-year commercial partnership with Dimension Data in March 2015. Under the agreement, Johannesburg-headquartered Dimension became the official technology partner of ASO on ‘Grand Tours’ the Tour de France and Vuelta a España, as well as Paris-Nice, Critérium International, Paris-Roubaix, la Flèche Wallonne, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, Tour de Yorkshire, World Ports Classic, Critérium du Dauphiné, la Course by le Tour de France and the Paris-Tours.
The 2016 Tour de France commences on Saturday and runs through to July 24.