by Michael Monita and
Dennis Potharst

I slow down to about 35 km an hour as I negotiate a tight mountain hairpin.

My thighs burn as I stand up on the pedals during yet another steep ascent.

I make the mistake of allowing half a second to admire the lush vineyards of Bordeaux.

Unfortunately, this lapse allows a blur resembling a yellow jersey to scream past me.

All the while, I'm strapped to a machine in northwest Calgary.

I'm experiencing the latest in training technology at the University of Southern Alberta’s High-Performance Athletic Centre with Dr. Michael Monita. A former member of Canada's cycling team and a participant in the Tour de France, Dr. Monita is demonstrating the ultimate combination of man and machine.

"The eTdF is the ultimate in training devices for the national cycling team. Though the roads and mountains near the Centre provide a great simulation of Europe’s toughest races, we've got a season that only allows three full months of actual road training. With the eTdF, we can provide our athletes with year-round opportunity to train for the most prestigious of all road races."

eTdF stands for the electronic Tour de France. Dr. Monita has spent the last two years with everyone from video crews to computer programmers to members of the actual race teams to create a training device that provides an almost uncanny simulation of the actual Tour race.

The machinery consists of a conventional wind trainer, a device that allows the rider to hook their bike in a stationary position. The bike is put in place, and then a series of infrared sensors are placed on and around the bike, as well as on the rider. As the rider begins pedalling, the sensors feed information to and from a computer located in the room. The computer then sends this information to a real-time video projection of the rider's position in the Tour. Riders pass the actual cottages in the French countryside, the tight descents through the Alps, and the delirious fans at the end of each stage. As the race progresses, the rider's race statistics, as well as their pulse and breathing rates, are charted. At the end of the race, the results are printed for review and discussion with coaches.

There were several race simulators on the market when I began developing the eTdF," explains Monita. "But they were very heavily pixelated, much like the graphics on early home computer games. These trainers worked, but didn't provide any motivation to keep going. I wanted to develop a way to provide the real experience of being in the Tour. And though we're still at the prototype stage, I know from being there myself that this is as close as you're going to get."

To recreate the Tour course, over 500 hours of video were shot, edited and converted to a digital format. Actual crowd noises were recorded and added to the video. Global information system technology was utilized to recreate every incline and descent down to the finest cobblestone bump. Riders are given a wide array of choices to simulate actual Tour conditions, and can even see themselves being presented with cycling's grail - the yellow jersey, worn by the Tour's overall leader.

The only drawback at the moment is the amount of computer speed required to accurately run the eTdF. "We had our processor custom-built for the prototype, and we had to get special clearance from the Canadian government to own and operate a chip this powerful. Our engineers are still working on making it run more effectively so that it can be widely marketed. But with the rate at which today's PCs are increasing in speed, we believe that it should be widely available by the year 2002. And I've already had interest expressed in this concept from the national rowing, athletics and race walking teams."

And what do the athletes think? "It's fun - it sure beats using just a wind trainer, and it'll give me a great idea of what to expect in France next year" said Dennis Potharst, a current member of Canada’s road racing team.

"The team has booked times on the eTdF all the way through the winter" said Monita. "With this training, we’ve seen their times improve dramatically on each stage."

Look for Canada’s cyclists to grad their share of success at next year’s Tour de France thanks to the introduction of multimedia to their training program.