The world’s top professional cycling teams are preparing to do battle against each other next month in ‘The Digital Swiss 5’. This is a series of five individual virtual races on parts of the same parcours planned for the Tour de Suisse 2020.
Velon, which is owned by 11 WorldTour teams, is working with the organisers of the Tour de Suisse and the ROUVY indoor cycling platform to ‘bring racing to fans everywhere whilst respecting the global restrictions on everyday life as a result of the COVID19 pandemic.’
Top WorldTour team riders will get on their smart trainers for five races over five consecutive days and go all-out over some of the most challenging parts of the Tour de Suisse parcours. The ROUVY platform uses real video footage of the roads and riders are represented by 3D avatars wearing their team kit and riding their own team’s bikes.
Invitations to participate have been sent to all teams who are scheduled to race in this year’s Tour de Suisse, which is due to be held in June.
Each team will have three riders and their live data – speed, power and cadence – will be on display, continuing the work done by Velon in partnership with some of the world’s biggest race organisers, broadcasters and digital platforms over the past four years. Some of the riders will have webcams on them whilst racing indoors on the virtual platform, so viewers can see their faces as they push out the watts.
The races, each lasting approximately one hour, are scheduled for Wednesday 22nd April to Sunday 26th April. Full details on how fans can watch will be announced soon. Viewers in Switzerland will be able to watch live on the national broadcaster, SRF.
Michael Matthews, pro rider at Team Sunweb, said “These are difficult times for everyone at the moment and this is a really cool way for us to interact with our fans and race when standard racing is not possible. It gives us something to be motivated to do and be excited for when everything else is so uncertain. I personally am really looking forward to watching and maybe even racing myself.”
Luke Roberts, Sport Director at Team Sunweb, added “This is a great e-sports opportunity for us and fans to still engage with racing under circumstances that mean a traditional approach to racing is not possible. For most cycling enthusiasts, riding outside is not permitted and this interactive approach gives professionals and fans alike a way to enjoy a race in a safe way in the current situation.”
Bauke Mollema, pro rider at Trek-Segafredo, said “I have great memories from the Tour de Suisse including a stage win in 2013 and a 2nd, 3rd and 5th place in GC. I love riding in the mountains and on Swiss roads. I was looking forward to racing again, but obviously this is uncertain at the moment. To stay in shape and keep competitive form, I am riding a lot of hours on our Saris Smart Trainer but I’ve never actually participated in a virtual race. It seems like a great way to stay fit and test my condition against other pro riders.”
Grégory Rast, Sport Director at Trek-Segafredo, added “I think it’s a great idea for the riders to keep motivated and have a goal that is similar to an actual race. At present no racing is taking place and in some countries you can’t even ride outside, so many of our riders are training indoors on smart trainers. For our team the Tour de Suisse is a great, important race and hopefully this year’s edition will not be cancelled. I’m Swiss so for me it is the best race in the world.”
