Google Enables Real-time GPS Tracking of Tour de France Riders

Google has just launched an innovative mashup of its My Tracks GPS app, Google Maps, and a real-time data feed from members of the HTC-Columbia team to provide a detailed look into the Tour de France bicycle race as it happens. Google's special My Tracks Tour page lets you select which rider you would like to follow while the race stage is occurring. After you've selected a rider, you'll see his position in Google Maps virtually real time, but also his speed, power, cadence, and heart rate. Google accomplishes this by having each HTC-Columbia rider carry an HTC Legend smartphone including ANT+ linkage to a heart rate monitor, and bike speedometer and power meters. I'd like to see the data archived so you could view it after the stage, but this is an otherwise very interesting glimpse into the heart of Le Tour. Image © Google