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Spice Girls’ Mel C will compete in Zwift’s celebrity chase race

Sporty Spice will join big names such as Sir Chris Hoy, Fabian Cancellara, Kristin Armstrong, Nelson Vails, Alberto Contador and other Olympic athletes for the event

Zwift has announced its Olympic Virtual Series ‘Chase Race’ celebrity lineup, which includes Melanie Chisholm, also known as Mel C or Sporty Spice.

It’s not the first time the 47-year-old singer will clip in and race on Zwift. Last year, Mel C participated in Chris Froome’s celebrity Zwift race in aid of ‘Wheels for Heroes’ and she put down some very impressive numbers. Sporty Spice, true to her Spice Girls name, finished third behind Froome and Kevin Pietersen, a South African cricketer. She was able to hold an average power of 203 watts for 41 minutes, which works out to an impressive 3.27 W/kg.

Chase Race

As part of the new Olympic Virtual Series, the UCI and Zwift are holding a chase race featuring celebrities and a few Zwift community members. Cyclists will be sent out at staggered intervals, depending on their category, with the strongest riders starting last. The goal of the event is to hold off the riders behind you and catch those in front of you.

The lineup, which includes Mel C, is impressive.

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Pros and former pros such as Sir Chris Hoy, Fabian Cancellara, Kristin Armstrong, Nelson Vails and Alberto Contador will be joined by other Olympic and high-level athletes. Dame Sarah Storey a 14x Paralympic gold medallist who holds 25 UCI World Championship titles and 75 world records across both cycling and swimming will also be racing. Four-time IRONMAN World Championship silver medalist Lucy Charles Barclay and two-time Olympic gold medal winner in triathlon Alistair Brownlee will bring their time trial skills to the event.

Olympic gold medallists from other sports, such as James Cracknell, a rower, Jonathan Edwards, a triple jumper and Maddie Hinch, a field hockey goalkeeper, will test their cycling abilities. Former world champion marathon runner Paula Radcliffe will also join the bunch.

The race will be broadcast live on Friday, June 18, at 9:30 PST /12:30 EST.