Innovation in weather forecasting comes to cycling to prevent dangerous situations

Avoiding situations like the one that occurred last year, when one of the stages was suspended due to snow, while just a few kilometers ahead the sun was shining brightly, is the goal of the new system of portable weather stations that O Gran Camiño has incorporated into the race in order to make the most accurate decision with all the data at hand.

O Gran Camiño will distribute portable weather stations along the route

A year ago, the dispute of O Gran Camiño was marked by controversy due to the suspension of stages because of bad weather. Particularly striking was the day when the decision was made to stop the stage due to snow when, just a few minutes later, the sun was shining brightly.

It is not pleasant to have to make this decision for a race, especially for a modest one like O Gran Camiño that, on many occasions, depends on the success of the current edition to be able to continue organizing the event in the future counting on the necessary sponsors to carry it out.

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In this edition, O Gran Camiño has decided not to leave room for improvisation and for that, they will use portable weather stations that will be distributed along the stage route to have precise information at all times and thus be able to make decisions accordingly. A decision that becomes especially relevant as these days of the 2024 edition of O Gran Camiño an important storm is returning that will bring winter back to the Iberian Peninsula after several weeks of practically spring-like weather.

According to the race director, former cyclist Ezequiel Mosquera "We cannot change the dates of the race, there simply aren't any others. So what we have to do is invest in safety in races and that safety often includes getting live information about what is happening a few kilometers ahead. We had a meeting and came up with the idea of these weather stations."

The organization's idea is that this weather information is available on the O Gran Camiño website in real-time for race followers. "It will help us make decisions although it is true that sometimes decisions have to be made without knowing exactly what the situation is ahead. We cannot change the weather, but we can monitor it closely," emphasized Ezequiel Mosquera.