- La Vuelta 25 will be the edition with the greatest connectivity needs in the race’s history, with a route spanning 3,151 km in Spain and four stages in Italy. This not only entails a sporting challenge, but also a technological one, as secure, stable and real-time communications must be guaranteed in rural areas, mountain passes and large cities.
- Telefónica will mobilise more than 200 technicians, will deploy three 4G/5G Mobile Units at key stages and will reinforce the network throughout the entire race in order to guarantee connectivity for the organisation, the teams, the journalists and for millions of fans.
- Telefónica Tech will apply Smart Steps, its Big Data platform, during seven stages in order to analyse the mobility of the fans and, thus, help the organisers manage the race and plan future editions.
- With Telefonica’s support as a technological partner since 2017, La Vuelta has consolidated its position as a testing ground for network innovation, Big Data and real-time analysis applied to professional sports.
La Vuelta 25 will be a record-breaking edition, not just for its five high-mountain stages and its seven mid-mountain stages, but also for its enormous challenge in terms of guaranteeing high capacity real-time connectivity in areas with mass audience concentrations, with low population density and in cross-border areas, as four stages will be held on Italian territory.
Providing service simultaneously to the organisers, the police, the advertising caravan, the teams, personnel, medical units, the media and millions of fans makes La Vuelta a large-scale technical innovation laboratory.
‘During La Vuelta, in just a matter of hours, the race’s connectivity requirements in rural areas can increase to that of a city,’ explains Sergio Sánchez, IT Director for Telefónica España. ‘The difference is that here, the network has to adapt dynamically, while in motion, and process a tremendous amount of data in real time: from the riders’ performance metrics to live broadcasts and even the organisation’s logistical coordination.’
‘Telefónica’s support is crucial to ensuring the technological success of La Vuelta,’ says Javier Guillén, General Director of La Vuelta. ‘Each year, the complexity of our connectivity and data management increases, but thanks to this collaboration we’re able to respond to the needs of the teams, the media and the fans, making La Vuelta an international benchmark, not just in sports, but also in technology.’
5G and fibre connectivity in extreme surroundings
Telefónica will reinforce the existing 5G network throughout the entire route and will deploy three 5G Mobile Units at particularly demanding stage arrivals with regards to reception, such as L’Angliru, La Farrapona and El Morredero.
These units will absorb exceptional peaks in demand, ensure live television and digital broadcasting and respond to the data-synchronising needs of the teams, that manage the performance metrics of their riders, race strategies and logistical coordination in real time.
The deployment of this 5G technology combines with that of the company’s fibre optic cables. In so doing, Telefónica’s mobile and fixed networks, with significant capillarity over the entire national territory, both in urban and rural areas, will guarantee connectivity for the organisation, the teams, the journalists and the fans who travel to the different stages of La Vuelta.
Big Data for the management and future of La Vuelta
In addition, during seven stages Telefónica Tech will apply the Smart Steps platform, which processes millions of mobile events in an anonymous and aggregate manner through artificial intelligence. This tool allows the organisation to determine mobility patterns, estimate the flow of the crowd, anticipate security needs and scale access points and infrastructures accordingly. It also offers strategic information regarding the race’s touristic and economic impact upon each territory.
‘Real-time data management is just as crucial for the organisation of La Vuelta as it is for the teams who analyse in a matter of seconds the performance of their riders,’ adds Sergio Sánchez, IT Director for Telefónica España. ‘Big Data has become key to planning a competition that changes setting every day and that requires immediate functionality, with the utmost precision.’
A strategic technological partner since 2017
Telefónica has been a technological partner of La Vuelta since 2017, and continues to be in this year’s edition, covering 21 stages from the 23rd of August to the 14th of September. Also, since 2011, the company is the main sponsor of the Movistar Team, the only Spanish team in the UCI WorldTour in both the men’s and women’s categories, that will celebrate 15 consecutive participations in the Spanish Tour in 2025.
Key connectivity facts for La Vuelta 25
- 3,151 km over 21 stages throughout Spain and 4 stages in Italy, which entails a multinational network deployment.
- 3 4G/5G Mobile Units deployed in critical high-altitude arrivals.
- Reinforced reception throughout 100% of the route, including rural areas with low population density.
- Capacity for managing peaks of simultaneous mobile connections, characteristic of mass events, at points with maximum concentrations of people.
- Live broadcasting of more than 1,200 hours of TV and digital signals, supported by the 5G network.
- Processing of more than 2 TB of data daily generated by the teams, connected devices, broadcasts and fans.
- Smart Steps will anonymously process more than 100 million mobile events during the competition, through AI and advanced analysis.
- More than 200 Telefónica engineers and technicians will deploy, monitor and support the network during the three weeks of racing.
- 15 years of participation in La Vuelta by the Movistar Team, with Telefónica as its main sponsor, consolidating the union between sports and technology.
