Tour de France – Distance & Pace over time – Radial Charts

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This is an Excel replica of excellent Tableau visual made by Marc Reid here.

Last week, I saw a stunning visualization on Tour de France using of radial charts on twitter.

As an amateur cyclist, somewhat pro data analyst, I jumped with joy seeing that visual. I immediately thought, this needs to be redone in Excel. So here is an implementation of radial charts in Excel.

Demo of Excel Replica – TdF Distance & Pace Radial charts

Tour de France - distance vs. pace - radial charts in excel - demo

Download Tour de France Radial Charts viz in Excel

Click here to download the completed workbook. Have a play with the viz tab or explore the data&calc tab to see how it’s put together.

How is this chart made?

This will be a brief recipe with links to other articles that explain the technical elements. Feel free to poke around the download file to discover odd missing elements.

Step 0: Inspiration

As mentioned earlier, the inspiration for this came from Marc Reid’s excellent visual. I loved the visual instantly and wanted to replicate it in Excel as much as possible.

Original vs. replica - tour de france visualization

Step 1: Getting data

The data for this came from Thomas Camminady’s page on Every cyclist of Tour de France in a single CSV file. As the name suggests, it’s a CSV file, so there was no post processing needed. For each year, each finisher there is one row in the data set with columns like name, team name, duration, distance, pace, position and few other bits.

Step 2: Calcs for radial visualization

Meet ometrys. You might have seen them back in high school.

  • Geometry
  • Trigonometry

They will help us take the cycling data and transform that in to a radial chart.

Since there is 94 years of data (between 1913 and 2017 there were 94 editions of the tour) each spoke will be separated by 2pi / 94 radians.

Let’s take a look the anatomy of radial chart spokes.

anatomy of radial chart - single spoke
single spoke - zoomed - points we need to calculate

We could simply draw one line per spoke, but to get the thick edge, thin center look, I went with triangle approach.

As you can see, if we can calculate points a,b,c & d for each year, our job is done.

The center is (0,0). Points a & d lie on the inner ring. Points b & c depend on the actual distance (or pace) we are plotting for the given year.

Let’s say inner ring size (radius) is defined by a named range hole.size and triangle edges are separated by 1 degree (2pi/360 radians).

  • point a (x,y) = (hole.size * SIN(theta), hole.size *COS(theta))
  • point d (x,y) = (hole.size * SIN(theta + 2pi/360), hole.size *COS(theta + 2pi/360))

To calculate b & c, we need to use the distance in that year too. As the distances (and paces) are all over the places, I have used a scale.factor to scale them down or up to make the radial charts uniform. This is how the formula looks for points b & c.

  • point b (x,y) = (dist/scale.factor.d * SIN(theta), dist/scale.factor.d * COS(theta))
  • point c (x,y) = (dist/scale.factor.d * SIN(theta + 2pi/360), dist/scale.factor.d * COS(theta + 2pi/260))

As we need 4 points for each year, we need to calculate 4 x 94 values to plot the radial chart for distance. Similar set of values need to be calculated for pace too.

Once all these values are ready, it is a simple matter of creating XY scatter plot, formatting it to get the spokes.

This method of drawing spokes / radials in Excel is explained in great detail here. For more also see network relationships chart in Excel.

The calculations for line charts are rather straight forward, so I am not explaining them here.

Step 3: Extra series for highlighting max, min and selected values

Once the calculations are done, we can add additional x,y values for each of these scenarios.

  • If the pace is maximum, then get (x,y) else (NA(), NA())
  • Pace is minimum, get (x,y) else NA()
  • Year is selected by the user, get (x,y) else NA()

Related: How to conditionally format charts?

Step 4: User interaction for year selection – scrollbar form control

I added a scrollbar control to the visuals area and then set it up to go from 1913 to 2017. We can use the linked cell value to drive the calculations needed for “year selection” bit.

form control for selecting year

Related: Introduction to Excel Form Controls

Step 5: Stats for selected year with Picture Link

For the selected year, we can easily calculate stats (winner’s name, duration, distance, pace and percentage changes compared to previous edition of the tour). Once these stats are calculated, we can show them on the visual by using picture link. As you play with the scrollbar, the picture link changes.

Here is a re-cap of all the 5 steps in construction.

tour de france - radial charts in excel - how it's constructed?

Other bits & pieces

  • We can add labels for important points on radial chart by using “value from cell” option for data labels.
  • But the labels on XY charts tend to be poorly positioned. I needed more space between edge of spoke and label. To get this, I added an extra label series that is offset 12 points from the edge.
  • We can add number of finishers in each year and see that trend too. As you can see, over the years, the competition has gone intense.

The final output – Tour de France distance & pace over time as radial charts

Tour de France - distance vs. pace - radial charts in excel - demo

How do you like the visualization?

My love for cycling, data and story-telling coincided perfectly in this. That said, if I remove my rose-tinted glasses, I can see a couple of issues with the visualization.

  • Redundancy: The line charts at bottom depict the same info as radials, but do a better job. They can work even with 500 data points, where as the radial spokes will get very busy with such large volume of data.
  • Obvious: The conclusion from visualization is “as distance goes down, pace has gone up”. But this is kind of obvious.

That said, I loved the challenge of replicating it in Excel. I would say, barring the trigonometry part, it is rather simple to re-create this in Excel. I suggest giving it a try to improve your charting skills.

What about you? What do you think about the original Tableau visual and its replica in Excel? Please share your thoughts in comment section.

Do you like sport & data – Check out these stories too:

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27 Responses to “How to Embed Youtube videos in to Excel Workbooks?”

  1. Vlad says:

    Thank you!!
    The trick is to get that URL for video. Some videos have this feature disabled... hmm...

  2. Fred says:

    very cool. how did you record what you do on Excel? it didn't seem like you was using a camcorders.

  3. Robert says:

    This is a great tip. Is it possible to insert a PDF on an excel worksheet? I usually receive quotations in pdf format, and would like to show the quote on a worksheet, rather than using hyperlinks. Any and all help would be greatly appreciated.

  4. Gregory says:

    Your instructions didn't work for me, ether in Excel 2010 or 2007, and I tried several times, following the instructions very carefully and to the letter.

    What I found out is that, for some odd reason, copying the YouTube URL then adding the ?fs=1&hl=en_US to the end would not work at all for me.

    But if I went to the Embed code in YouTube and copied value parameter (minus quotes) and pasted it into the movie property, the movie would play. The Embed code value parameter includes the link and the extra bit you included at the end. No need to copy that as an extra step.

    • West says:

      Best feedback on here. Worked like a charm after removing extra YT code. Thanks..

    • Sonu says:

      @Gregory,
      Thanks your instructions.
      I have carefully followed the Instructions mentioned by you and still i am unable to do embed the video in excel.
       
      Please help and your immedate reply will be higly appreceiable.
       
      Regards
      Sonu Monga
      A Chartered Accountant
       

      • HARSHUL says:

        If you are using excel 2010 or higher. then there is nothing like Shockwave flash player.
        In that case you have to use windows media player.
        There is a control naming Windows Media Player in that list.
        Insert that contol and then open properties and insert link in URL.
        It will work.

    • Sonu says:

      @Gregory,
      Thanks your instructions.
      I have carefully followed the Instructions mentioned by you and still i am unable to do embed the video in excel.
       
      Please help and your immedate reply will be higly appreceiable.
       
      Regards
      Sonu Monga
      Chartered Accountant

  5. vlad says:

    It wouldn't play because you need to indicate the exact location of flash file....by 'Embedding' the file, you get the the exact URL, so it can be played....some videos can't be 'embedded' that's why it won't work....

  6. Jason says:

    My developer tools does not list a control for "Shockwave flash object". Where/How do I find it?

  7. modeste says:

    Hi Chandoo,

    why don't use OCX Window media player ???
    you can play your own local video or music
    just indicate exact location (Full path or URL)
    i.e :
    C:\Users\Public\Music\Sample Music\Kalimba.mp3
    C:\Users\Public\Videos\Sample Videos\Wildlife.wmv

    with macro and userform :
    Sub PlayMedia()
    On Error Resume Next
    UserForm1.WindowsMediaPlayer1.URL = ThisWorkbook.Path & "/" & ActiveCell.Value
    ' ----- or
    ' ----- UserForm1.WindowsMediaPlayer1.URL = Exact location
    End Sub

  8. Very cool. I also could not get the instructions to work, but was able to use Gregory's suggestion about the embed code. Thanks for posting!

  9. Maria says:

    Thanks Chandoo. This is very cool. I was able to make it work using the embed code copying from http: up to _US as you indicated. This is a great way to provide additional training or message as you package your deliverable.

  10. [...] Trying to become a bit flashier with your dashboards? Maybe you’re just looking to include additional material. Take a look at this quick tool to embed YouTube videos in excel workbooks. [...]

  11. Clarity says:

    Hi Chandoo,

    Excellent tip. Very useful.

    Is there anyway to link the path in the properties to a cell value so that the user can select the video from a drop down and then have the video play?

  12. Nav says:

    nothing happend in Embed Youtube videos in to Excel Workbooks, it shows only white blank screen.

  13. nihal says:

    Hi Chandoo, How Do I put more than one URL in movie field?

  14. Steve says:

    Hi Chandoo,
    very good tip.
    But how do I start the embeded video in an xlsm file once the tab is selected or through VBA programming?
    Appreciating your answer
    Steve

  15. KAMALAKAR says:

    Query:
    I have created 4 sheets excel file, but when i print this file to PDF it generates two sheets one PDF and two Sheets one PDF … can i know the setting which i had to change. because i want all 4 sheets in one PDF
    while Printing i did setting as "Print Entire Workbook"
    Awaiting for your reply.

  16. Brent says:

    Help!! THis works great, but I'm trying to use VBA to change the URL, which I can do. The problem I am having is getting it to play via VBA.

    The object has both .play and .playing = true properties, but neither will actually play the video after updating the .movie url. The correct video appears within the object, but I can't get it to play from VBA... which I really need it to do.. Thoughts?

  17. biljo says:

    Hello

    Go to Developerr tab and select more control then find windows media player just click it.

    after that you have to right click on the embeded object and select properties there you need to add your video file path.(dont forget to include extension like .avi, .mov etc.) in URL field. Then Press Alt+11 and deselct design mode. Once you close the module your video start playing.....

  18. Rob G says:

    For the life of me, I cannot get this to work. I have followed Chandoos instructions to the letter and also tried using the embed code as Gregory suggested, all I get is a blank white box where the video should be. Is there any other reason that this might not work? Flash version perhaps? Quite frustrating.

  19. Mark says:

    Hi I was wondering if was a way after adding a video if one could save to HTML format and it would work?

  20. Yatin says:

    Hi Chandoo,
    This is very helpful, however, is there a way to auto-play the embedded youtube video as soon as somebody opens the excel file? Can you share the macro for the same?

  21. nonsofar13 says:

    Hi,

    Very cool, how is it possible to start automatically the video when the excel sheet is open?

    I would like to start the video when i open the worksheet :).

    Best regards.

  22. Yasser says:

    Hello
    When trying this method, I got Flash-embedded videos are no longer supported. Is there a solution for this problem?

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