Microsoft & SB Nations’s Podium Cafe collaborate on Tour de France Bing maps app

With Wimbledon over and the 2010 World Cup coming to a close in the coming weeks attentions will be turning towards the already underway Tour de France. Running from Saturday July 3rd to Sunday July 25th the 97th Tour de France is made up of 1 prologue and 20 stages that cover a total distance of 3,642 kilometres. Microsoft have put together a 2010 Tour de France map app for Bing with commentary from one of Podium Cafe’s blog writers, which covers all manner of cycling news and events.

Fans of Le Tour can preview the course and check the standing of their favourite teams! During this three-week long event each stage is displayed on the map along with pushpins to indicate the start and finish. Also displayed along the top of the map is an interactive profile which allows users to view elevation and slope changes for the selected stage. Stage description, weather predictions and Daily results are all available too. The highlight of the app must be the Bird’s Eye view which gives you a real feel for just how steep and tough these hill climbs really are.

While most internet users make a bee line for Google & Google Maps for any and all search related queries Microsoft’s Bing is doing its best to entice users away with unique offerings like building specialized apps and tools for current events and interests. The Tour de France map app is a prime example as is Bing giving users access to Foursquare data and adding an app that facilitates stargazing from street level. It seems Bing knows it cannot compete with Google straight away in terms of search and is getting creative as a result, the battle of the search engines is shaping up to be an interesting one.

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