Starting on February 17th, Elite Cycling and Zwift will be hosting a monthly race on Zwift called the Elite Pro Series. Professional cyclists have been invited to line up and race shoulder to shoulder with cyclists from across the globe using the Zwift platform, giving amateur riders the chance to measure their ability against the pros.
Courses will vary from month to month, ensuring that everyone will be able to race on a route best suited to their strengths, including big virtual mountain climbs.
There will be a mass start for all categories from the pens; so cyclists will be able to catch a glance of the pros before the racing kicks into high gear.
The race will operate standard categories, A-D, including E for ‘Women Only’. A heart rate monitor is required and connection to Zwift Power for official results, and the allocation of a winner for each category.
The first event kicks off on February 17th at 19:30 CET / 11:30 MST and will be hosted on ‘The Magnificent 8’ course, on Zwift’s main map, Watopia. The route is quite flat, with the only virtual climb being a reverse Hilly KOM.
- Length: 28.6 km (17.8 miles)
- Virtual elevation: 131 m (430 ft)
- Expected duration: 45-60 min
Six professional riders will be joining the inaugural ride. Teams who confirmed the participation for the first round are the Movistar Team, both the men’s team and the women’s team; the Movistar eTeam; and Équipe Cycliste Groupama-FDJ.
Pros on the start line include:
- Matteo Jorgenson, Movistar Team
- Barbara Guarischi, Movistar Team
- Tobias Ludvigsson, Groupama-FDJ
- Lewis Askey, Groupama-FDJ
- Vidar Mehl, Movistar eTeam
- Steph Clutterbuck, Movistar eTeam
Peter Lago, a spokesperson for Elite, said “We’ll make good use of our champions by inviting them to ride with you and many other cyclists all over the world.
“Who doesn’t want to say they have raced with the best of the best? This is truly something special for our pro athletes as well. It gives them a chance to connect with their fanbase via Zwift and race the global community. We expect the competition to be intense, yet fun.”
www.elite-it.com
www.zwift.com
