ZWIFT, the online fitness and entertainment platform, will be kicking off the 724-mile Amgen Tour of California by hosting a ride on the ZWIFT platform with race Ambassador Jens Voigt.
The ride with Jens is scheduled to take place on Friday 7 May at 10:00 PST. Voigt will make a trip to ‘ZWIFT island’ for about an hour and will provide reflections on his career as a professional cyclist, including his nine appearances in the Amgen Tour of California.
During the virtual ride via ZWIFT, Brad Sohner, the ‘Voice of the Amgen Tour of California’, will help to keep things lively; users will be encouraged to throw questions to Jens using Twitter or ZWIFT’s in-game text messaging feature.
Jens Voight will be ‘teleporting to ZWIFT Island’ from the Amgen Tour of California’s Stage 1 host hotel, The Doubletree Sacramento. Anyone can ride with Jens Voigt simply by creating a ZWIFT account and/or logging into ZWIFT at 10am on 7 May.
The Amgen Tour of California is created and presented by AEG. The race challenges the world’s top professional cycling teams to compete along a demanding course that traverses hundreds of miles of California’s iconic highways, byways and coastlines each spring.
The teams chosen to participate have included Olympic medalists, Tour de France contenders and World Champions. Amgen Tour of California is listed on the international professional cycling calendar (2 HC, meaning ‘beyond category’), awarding important, world-ranking points to the top finishers.
This year, the men’s course will traverse more than 700-miles and wind through 13 host cities, including Sacramento, Nevada City, Lodi, San Jose, Pismo Beach, Avila Beach, Santa Barbara, Santa Clarita, Big Bear Lake, Ontario, Mt. Baldy, L.A. LIVE (Downtown Los Angeles) and Pasadena.
The women’s three-day stage race will travel more than 150-miles through South Lake Tahoe and Sacramento, followed by a 15-mile Invitational Time Trial in Big Bear Lake.
Built on a long-standing passion for the sport of cycling, ZWIFT is a company of dedicated cyclists that also happen to be experienced software and video game developers. Combining that passion and deep understanding of the cycling world, ZWIFT is billed as the first company to use massive multiplayer gaming technology to bring the outdoor cycling experience indoors.
Athletes from around the globe can ride with each other in rich 3D generated worlds simply by connecting their existing devices (e.g. trainers, power meters, heart rate monitors, etc) wirelessly via open industry standard ANT+. From friendly competition to casual group rides, ZWIFT is building a community of like-minded athletes united in the pursuit of a better indoor cycling experience.
www.zwift.com
www.amgentourofcalifornia.com
