Watch Footage from the Tour de France's First On-Bike Camera

For the first time in the history of the Tour de France, the race has allowed competitors to ride with small, bike-mounted video cameras to give viewer's a peek inside of the pack. One of the teams using the new technology is Team Giant-Shimano, after an agreement was made with the race organizers to allow on-board cameras on the front and back of bikes racing in the peleton, according to the team's website. 

The Shimano camera mounted underneath the saddle of a bike.

Ben Delaney

The cameras, made by Japanese cycling company Shimano, will be secured under the saddle and the recorded video will be downloaded after each stage of the race. This type of footage was customary to have following the completion of amateur races, but it took until May for the International Cycling Union to give its first permissions to professional riders in the Tour de California, where a sprint finish from the eyes of John Degenkolb in Stage 1 turned into a hit on the company's YouTube page. At least nine teams are competing with bike-mounted cameras in this year's Tour de France, according to the New York Times. 

In addition to Team Giant-Shimano, the Shimano CM-1000 cameras are mounted on bikes for other teams including Bianchi, Orica-GreenEDGE and Lampre-Merida. The camera is waterproof, dustproof and has the capability to connect to WiFi and ANT+ devices that can measure speed, cadence, power and heart rate, but it can only record for two hours - about half the time of a typical Tour stage - so riders can decide when they want to use them during the race.

Check out the view from the on-bike cameras during Stage 1: