Timing The Tour

Swiss watchmaker Tissot, official race timer to the Tour de France, gives Paul Knott the lowdown on the high tech of timekeeping

- Paul Knott

The caravan that follows the Tour de France feels like a travelling carnival but is actually an immaculately tuned machine. An essential part of that convoy is the timing system employed throughout the race by official race timer Tissot.

It offers an astounding level of detail and accuracy, enabling riders to be separated by a single millimetre when sprinters hit the line upwards of 60kph.

“We have to have a photo finish that can film 10,000 vertical pictures per second; we are constantly filming the finish in a very thin line,” explains head of Tissot timing, Pascal Rossier.