Frustration ran high at Sunday's elite men's road race (261 km) of the UCI Road World Championships as bad weather limited television coverage. Heavy rain and low cloud cover prevented two helicopters carrying cameras from capturing live footage during the race.

"Unusual conditions today," a spokesperson for Yorkshire2019 told Cycling News. 'We wanted to show shots of the helicopters. We filmed the race and posted ads in the field. A lot of people put a lot of effort into it and they don't get the recognition they deserve."

"What can you do' This rain is crazy. Unfortunately, it is out of our control. It's freakish weather."

The live coverage was exacerbated when the bikes' cameras were disabled as the race approached the Harrogate finish circuit with about 120 km to go. One of the two high-altitude planes transmitting signals to the bikes failed to take off, and the other had to land about four hours later for refueling. Live images did not return until 75 km remained.

In other words, during the 45 km of the final circuit, the only reliable cameras were the six static cameras placed at each point of the 14 km loop.

A spokesperson for Yorkshire2019 explained that the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) was responsible for live coverage of the race.

"It's not us, it's the EBU. They work with the UCI, they are global producers." They work with the UCI, they are world-class producers; the EBU arranges the planes, helicopters, and cameras, all in cooperation with the UCI; the EBU syndicate that provides footage to the BBC and other broadcasters."

"The EBU is the producer," he said.

A banner on the TV screen read, "Due to inclement weather, the race will be broadcast to a limited extent. Race commentators informed viewers of issues related to helicopter landings, airplane refueling, and limited television coverage due to the use of static cameras.

"There were two helicopters and we tried to get footage, but the clouds were too low to fly," said a spokesperson for Yorkshire2019. 'We could get above them, but we couldn't get below the clouds to take pictures.'

"Overhead of them is a plane that flies above the helicopters in every race and sends signals. That plane can only stay in the air for a certain amount of time before it needs to refuel. They had to land for refueling

"The bike cameras need signals from the planes overhead, which is why the live footage was lost."

Many questioned why the planes did not start live coverage later in the race and why they did not interrupt coverage of the crucial finish circuit for refueling.

With 120 km to go, the bike cameras stopped as the breakaway entered the first circuit. They captured the decisive moment when Belgian Philippe Gilbert crashed. For the next three laps, however, the footage abruptly switched to a static camera on the course, leaving viewers to watch spotty coverage and wonder what was happening in the race.

"This is not unusual," said a spokesperson for Yorkshire 2019. 'Other international races have had the same problem with cloud cover preventing helicopters from filming. We ourselves experienced similar problems at the 2016 Tour de Yorkshire.

"Usually when that happens, we revert to bike cameras or still cameras and we don't even notice it happening.

"If you watch the last three hours today, the pictures are there. Commentators don't usually call attention to it (the limited TV coverage), nor do they put banners all over the screen pointing it out.

"There are five or six static camera points around the circuit. There are a couple on Parliament Street, a couple on the finish straight, one as you enter the circuit, and two more on Pennypot Lane and the Oakbeck climb. However, it is not possible to cover the entire 14 km.

Once the plane refueled and took flight, it transmitted signals to and from the bike's camera back on the course, allowing it to cover the last six laps of the race.

After the race, the UCI issued a communication regarding the two planes and two helicopters.

"This year we have enhanced our live coverage system with two planes and two helicopters to transmit signals from the bikes. Due to particularly bad weather conditions, the two helicopters have not yet received flight permission from the local civil aviation authority.

"The other plane faced mechanical problems early this morning, so we had to use a spare plane. This plane was refueled in Leeds and is now back on course.

"During this time the broadcast has been based on fixed cameras at the circuit, alternating between footage of the heats and highlights from the morning's races.

Yorkshire2019 and the UCI have been running contingency plans throughout the eight days of racing in the UCI Road World Championships. Heavy rainfall caused water to pool in dangerous sections of the under-23 men's time trial on Tuesday and delays in the elite women's time trial.

The UCI also shortened the under-23 men's road race due to safety concerns and the need for natural light for Friday's television coverage.

The sports governing body announced Sunday morning that the route of the elite men's road race would be shortened by 23.5 km to 261 km due to expected inclement weather. It also added two laps around the finish circuit in Harrogate.

"We have been planning this for months and months," said a spokesperson for Yorkshire2019. We have been working on these plans for months and months," said a spokesperson for Yorkshire2019. These plans have undoubtedly been in place for many months. But we had very heavy rains, it was fall, and all the leaves fell off the trees. It's an incomplete storm

"We have councils and highway agencies, all of which are absolutely full to capacity. It's not like a soccer stadium. We have to prepare 280 km of roads, which is a huge task and they have to work together because it goes through different municipalities.

"It's a massive operation. This is the reality.