What to expect from the Virtual Tour de France

Though the classic Tour de France has been postponed to the end of August, the Virtual Tour de France will kick off this Saturday, July 4. Set to be broadcast on FloBikes, the GCN app and Zwift.com, the race will see pro cyclists competing in Watopia and Zwift’s newly created France and Paris maps.

Equal opportunity

In an exciting move for women’s cycling, the Virtual Tour de France will have equal broadcast coverage for the men’s and women’s races. Both races will take place on the same course and cover the same distance.

The major differences

Although these races have the Tour de France name, there are still some major differences between the real Tour and the Virtual Tour. The biggest and most obvious distinction is that the Zwift racing will all be done on indoor trainers. Many pros have learned to adapt to indoor rides—especially when many European counties banned outdoor training during the lockdown. Despite their experience, racing on Zwift is still quite different than real life racing, and there is definitely a learning curve to using power-ups and racing effectively.

Unlike the real Tour de France, there will only be six stages of the Virtual Tour. The races will take place on Saturday and Sunday, July 4-5, 11-12 and 18-19. The teams will be smaller—only four riders from a team will compete on each stage, but riders can be rotated in and out for different stages.

Instead of money that goes towards the teams, the Zwift racers will be competing for charity with funds going towards organizations such as Emmaüs, Secours Populaire, ​Jeugdfonds Sport and Cultuur, BiJeVa​, and Qhubeka.

Points-based

Another difference between the Virtual TdF and its real-life counterpart is how the race is won. The Virtual Tour will be entirely points-based. During each stage, riders will score points on specific climbs, sprints, and across the finish line. The points will be totalled by team and will be used to designate a leading team in each classification. The teams who win the best sprinter, best climber and general classification jerseys will chose a rider to wear the classification’s leader jersey on the next stage.

There will also be a best young rider classification to the rider with the most points under 25, and a most aggressive rider award for each stage.

Participants and stages

Confirmed riders include the past three winners of the Tour—Chris Froome, Geraint Thomas and Egan Bernal. For the women’s race Marianne Vos, Chloé Dygert Owen, Kirsten Wild, and Anna Van der Breggen are among the big names confirmed.

Men’s Teams
AG2R La Mondiale
Arkéa Samsic
Alpecin-Fenix
Astana Pro Team
B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
Team Bahrain McLaren
Bora Hansgrohe
CCC Team
Team Cofidis
Circus-Wanty Gobert
Deceuninck – Quick-Step
EF Education First Pro Cycling
Groupama-FDJ
Israel Start-Up Nation
Team INEOS
Team Jumbo-Visma
Lotto-Soudal
Mitchelton-SCOTT
NTT Pro Cycling
Rally Cycling
Team Sunweb
TOTAL Direct Énergie
Trek-Segafredo

Women’s teams
Alé BTC Ljubljana
Team Arkéa
Boels-Dolmans Cycling Team
CANYON//SRAM Racing
CCC-Liv Team
Ceratizit – WNT Pro Cycling
Drops
FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope
Lotto Soudal Ladies
Mitchelton-SCOTT
Parkhotel Valkenburg
Rally Cycling
TIBCO-Silicon Valley Bank
Trek-Segafredo Women
TWENTY20 Pro Cycling
Team Sunweb
Valcar Travel & Service

Each stage of the race will be only one hour long, so the racers will be going full gas for most of the event.

July 4, Stage 1: Nice, 36.4 km (4 x 9.1 km, hilly stage) – Watopia Hilly Route (Reverse)
July 5, Stage 2: Nice, 29.5 km (682 m of ascent, mountain stage) – Watopia Mountain Route
July 11, Stage 3: North-East France, 48 km (2 x 24 km laps, flat stage) – France R.G.V. Route
July 12, Stage 4: South-West France, 45.8 km (2 x 22.9 km laps, hilly stage) – France Casse-Pattes Route
July 18, Stage 5: Mont Ventoux, 22.8 km (finish at Chalet-Reynard, mountain stage) – France La Reine Route
July 19, Stage 6: Paris Champs-Elysées, 42.8 km (6 laps of the circuit) – Paris Champs-Elysées Route

Virtual l’Étape du Tour de France

The Virtual l’Étape du Tour de France will let regular Zwift ride the courses that the pros will compete on. Each of the three weeks has an Étape event, and starting July 12, the new France and Paris maps will be accessible to those who participate.

According to Zwift, “The French map takes inspiration from the country and should evoke strong connections with the country as Zwifters pass through vineyards, over Roman aqueducts, and through sunflower fields. The new map also plays host to a virtual replica of Mont Ventoux. Zwift’s Mont Ven-Top, meaning snowy peak in gallic, is a punishing climb that is sure to test the legs of any rider.”