
BCE provides host broadcast production as 2020 Tour de Luxembourg rolls out By Fergal Ringrose, SVG Europe
Tuesday, September 15, 2020 - 09:00
Print This Story
The five-stage 2020 Skoda Tour de Luxembourg gets underway today, Tuesday 15 September, and continues around the country until Saturday. The race organiser has chosen Broadcasting Center Europe (BCE) to ensure live coverage and transmission of the event.
BCE and NEP teams prepare for the Tour de Luxembourg on prologue day, Monday 14 September
BCE is orchestrating live coverage from its OB truck connected to five HD cameras at the arrival as well as three motocams transmitted via RF-linked helicopter and airplane. The RF element is being provided to BCE by NEP Belgium.
In addition to the live production, BCE will ensure live streaming in high definition on RTL.lu. Using BCE's mutualised playout services, the Tour will be broadcast live over IP from BCE's broadcasting centre on RTL T l Letzebuerg and on Eurosport.
The annual stage race was due to take part in late May to early June but was postponed until this week due to COVID-19. This year the event has moved up a category to become part of the ProSeries division the second division of world cycling. This new 2.HC rating is the highest below the UCI's World Tour.
Twenty four teams are taking part this year and among the GC favourites are John Degenkolb, Arnaud
Plexiglass separators in place on BCE's OB truck for Tour de Luxembourg coverage
D mare, Tony Gallopin and Tim Wellens. The 2019 champion is Jes s Herrada from the Cofidis team.
BCE head of production and digital media operations Xavier Thillen told SVG Europe that this is the second time that BCE has produced the host broadcast production for the Tour. It's the second time that the event has been televised live, relating to its upgrade by UCI to Pro2status on the UCI Europe Tour.
Last year BCE provided the same camera coverage, but the three motocams were delivered via SNG. This year they have been upgraded to RF. Graphics for the event are being provided to BCE by Videohouse Belgium.
The rescheduling of the Tour of course means it now coincides with the Tour de France. This means each stage must be run in the morning, said Thillen, and finished by 2pm, so that Eurosport can switch over to its Tour de France coverage in the afternoon. Eurosport coverage begins at 11am each morning.
Due to the COVID-19 sanitary requirements, the OB van interior has been adapted with large Plexiglas windows to ensure the proper separation of the production team. A cleaning team is also present during the complete event to sanitise the truck and the production equipment.
BCE has equipped the OB van with COVID-secure measures, not just Plexiglass but also a film over the vision mixer but done in such a way that we don't have to move any people out of the truck, so that production can be completed as normal. The BCE production team is the same size as for the first Tour de Luxembourg coverage provided last year.
The COVID-19 restrictions are rigorous, and overseen by both the cycling federation and by a representative of the interior ministry of Luxembourg.
The challenges are more to do with the restrictions imposed by the authorities, of course meaning no unauthorised people may be involved in the production and the different parts of the Tour - broadcasters, officials, teams - cannot mix along the way.
This is not the Tour de France, said Thillen, so we're not able to close off streets two or three days before each stage. Instead they may have only two hours before the end of each stage to ensure everything is in place at the finish line and for the podium presentation.
Skoda Tour de Luxembourg 2019 Foto: Serge Waldbillig
Thillen told SVG Europe this is the first sporting event BCE is covering in Luxembourg this year. The company has nevertheless been very busy with various types of productions since lockdown, including working out the broadcast coverage plan when the Luxembourg parliament was moved out of the parliament building. There is also a large IT fair taking place this week in Luxembourg which is being covered live by BCE.
We are glad to cover the 2020 edition of the Tour, said Thillen. While our expertise in production, broadcast and streaming ensures a seamless experience for the viewers it is our multiple productions during the pandemic which allows us to respect the sanitary measures for the organisers and workers on-site.
BCE provides media services, system integration and software development in the areas of television, radio, production and postproduction, telecommunication, and IT. With more than 200 people employed, BCE serves about 400 clients in various sectors, such as TV channels, radio stations, film distributors, producers, advertising companies, telecommunications operators, and public services.
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
16/11/2025
L3Harris to deliver advanced electronic warfare systems quickly for worldwide F-16 programs...
16/11/2025
Upgrading your Apogee Symphony MKII from TB2 to TB3: Need to Knows Upgrading your Apogee interface to Thunderbolt 3 isn't difficult - but it's not a cas...
16/11/2025
Apogee Electronics Acquired by Dirk Ulrich's Rockforce Tech Holding, Parent ...
15/11/2025
BURBANK, Calif. The Walt Disney Company and YouTube TV have reached a new multi-year distribution agreement, ending a carriage dispute that had blacked out ABC,...
15/11/2025
PLYMOUTH, Wis. A group of about 20 TV technology vendors supporting NextGen TV are wrapping up their ATSC 3.0 Interop here at Heartland Video Systems headquarte...
15/11/2025
NEW YORK NBCUniversal has announced that it will be launching NBC Sports Network (NBCSN), a 24/7 linear network featuring a wide range of marquee sporting event...
15/11/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has released an updated agenda for its Open Meeting on Thursday, November 20, 2025, which is scheduled to comme...
15/11/2025
JERSEY CITY, N.J. OpenVault has released new data showing that DOCSIS 3.1 and higher services are driving significant across-the-board increases in speed and co...
15/11/2025
ATLANTA Gray Media has concluded an agreement with the Ohio Valley Conference ( OVC ) to broadcast OVC college basketball games across 20 Gray markets in five s...
15/11/2025
NEW BERN, N.C. Wheatstone has named company veteran Darrin Paley vice president of business accounts, effective immediately....
15/11/2025
Back to All News
Netflix Serves Up the Trailer for Dining with the Kapoors'...
14/11/2025
Op-Ed: The Automation Imperative - Why AI Is the Only Scalable Defense Against L...
14/11/2025
FutureSPORT 2025: Caretta Research on why streaming won't save broadcasters By Jo Ruddock
Monday, November 10, 2025 - 14:37
Print This Story
Caretta R...
14/11/2025
Daneysse Daniels, Emmy-Winning Production Manager and Beloved Teammate at TNT Sp...
14/11/2025
The NBA 2K League Returns as an Immersive Entertainment Ecosystem' With Non...
14/11/2025
Inaugural SVG LIVE! Conference Brings 250 Top Sports and Entertainment Producti...
14/11/2025
(L-R) Suzette Quintanilla, Isabel Castro, and Chris P rez attend the 2025 Sundan...
14/11/2025
This week, Casa Spotify lit up Las Vegas with an unforgettable celebration of Latin music and culture ahead of the 26th Annual Latin Grammy Awards. Hosted at th...
14/11/2025
Boston Conservatory Orchestra to Perform at Carnegie Hall for United Nations Gen...
14/11/2025
Berklee Alum Lewis Pickett Wins Record of the Year at Latin Grammy Awards Pickett, a 2009 graduate, was nominated six times across three categories at this ye...
14/11/2025
PLYMOUTH, Wisc. A group of about 20 TV technology vendors supporting NextGen TV are wrapping up their ATSC 3.0 Interop here at Heartland Video Services headquar...
14/11/2025
What if your idle operations centers, inactive cloud time, staff or you as a freelancer could start generating revenue tomorrow?
NECF Corporation today announc...
14/11/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, today announced that it has been recognized as a Major Player in the IDC MarketS...
14/11/2025
The recent ADAC RAVENOL 24h Race at Germany's legendary N rburgring circuit marked a milestone for live broadcast production, and Clear-Com played a pivota...
14/11/2025
Streaming tech companies M2A Media and Unified Streaming provided key software components that enabled the world's leading sports entertainment platform, DA...
14/11/2025
Lightware, an industry leader in signal management solutions, is strengthening its commitment to sustainability through a series of people-focused ESG (Environm...
14/11/2025
WASHINGTON As the federal government shut down comes to an end, the Federal Communications Commission has further extended some filing deadlines and issued some...
14/11/2025
STAMFORD, Conn. In the run-up to being spun off from Comcast, Versant has announced that USA Sports will be the new brand and division name for the company'...
14/11/2025
Friday 14 November 2025
Documentary short, Children No More, comes to Sky this December
Following its world premiere at DOC NYC yesterday, Sky today announces...
14/11/2025
Friday 14 November 2025
Sky to remain the home of Ryder Cup and DP World Tour through 2029
Sky and the DP World Tour have today announced a four-year partners...
14/11/2025
Rohde & Schwarz redefines border security with comprehensive signals intelligenc...
14/11/2025
Rohde & Schwarz, together with Samsung, first to validate 3GPP NR-NTN conformanc...
14/11/2025
Back to All News
Netflix Unveils the Trailer of City of Shadows
Entertainment
14 November 2025
GlobalSpain
Link copied to clipboard
PREMIERING ON NETFLIX ...
14/11/2025
Today's AI workloads are data-intensive, requiring more scalable and afforda...
14/11/2025
The Late Late Toy Show blasts off!
RT launches The Late Late Toy Show's of...
14/11/2025
Scripps Research study reveals how uterine contractions are regulated by stretch and pressure during childbirth Molecular insights could lead to improved labor ...
13/11/2025
Versant Announces USA Sports as New Brand for Sports PortfolioBy SVG Staff
Thursday, November 13, 2025 - 6:15 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highli...
13/11/2025
SVG Campus Shot Callers: Mike Szlamowicz, Assistant Athletics Director, Sport an...
13/11/2025
REMI Realities: Finding Success in Switching, Replay, Graphics, Commentary, and ...
13/11/2025
SVG Sit-Down: E1's Laurence Boyd Shares the Tech Challenges of the 2025 Race...
13/11/2025
Versant's USA Sports Inks Five-Year Rights Deal With New Pac-12 ConferencePac-12 Enterprises will produce all USA Network games in partnership with USA Spor...
13/11/2025
NBCU To Launch New NBC Sports Network on Nov. 17By SVG Staff
Thursday, November 13, 2025 - 10:40 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
NBCUniv...
13/11/2025
2025 Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame: Glenn Adamo, Artist of StorytellingBy Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Thursday, November 13, 2025 - 11:29 am
Pri...
13/11/2025
(L-R) Jessica Hargrave, Tig Notaro, Stef Willen, Ryan White, Megan Falley, and A...
13/11/2025
By Roni Jo Draper
My father was born and raised in the Yurok village of Weitpus, in what is now considered Northern California. There at the fork of the Klamat...
13/11/2025
At Spotify, we're always working to help creators earn, grow, and connect wi...
13/11/2025
This year, Spotify has introduced even more ways for users to take control of their listening experience. Whether you're refreshing your Discover Weekly wit...
13/11/2025
Today, Spotify is beginning to roll out a powerful new feature designed to help listeners jump back into stories they've put down, whether it's after a ...
13/11/2025
NASA and L3Harris conducted a full-duration RS-25 hot fire test Nov. 12 on the Fred Haise Test Stand at Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, ma...