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Vitual (Zwift) Pro Tour de France

(2 posts)
  • Started 3 years ago by ARobComp
  • Latest reply from ARobComp

  1. ARobComp
    Member

    Having just watched it before I recommended it, if you're missing a bit of pro racing I think I would actually recommend the Virtual Tour De France on Zwift. (2 races each weekend)

    Today was the first stage, womens tour first then mens following up afterwards. About 35-50 minute races so nice and compact. Excellent commentary and some genuinely interesting tactics and incredible efforts. Mens race has lots of riders you might know (Greg Van Avermaet, Alex Dowsett, Mathieu van der Poel, Edvald Boasson -Hagen). Women's race had some world champ riders and I must admit that I didn't know many names but was a great race.

    A great thing is watching 19 year olds who have come up themselves via academies via Zwift itself racing against world TT champions!

    Rules are a bit different. Pro teams can race 4 riders per race, men cannot race more than 3 races total, females can't race more than 4 races total. So riders for different teams might be different on different day. This means it's all about the team classification (although they have sprint/KOM/agressive rider prizes etc as well)

    Pros:
    * Fun racing that is full gas and over in 45 mins or so
    * Each rider has a camera on them in their house as well so you get to see how they're looking
    * You get to see their basic stats live and full stats if they're a highlighted rider which is interesting to see (huge power!)
    * Commentary is excellent and really helps you understand what's going on
    * There are video game type "power ups" which add a new dimension to the riding
    * It's pretty immersive
    * Same attention given to the women's tour

    Cons
    * It's sometimes a little hard to recognise the different teams in the pelo-blob (thankfully the commentators are good)
    * When there is a lot of changing of position the riders get a bit twitchy on the screen
    * It's definitely not the same as the TDF!
    * Some riders get blown out the back very early and you don't really get an idea of what's going on with them

    Overall I think give it a watch and see what you think. If you like watching bike racing I think this was a good experience.

    Posted 3 years ago #
  2. ARobComp
    Member

    Stage 2 didn't disappoint either with a mountain stage really blowing things apart. Geraint Thomas making a showing and the ladies finish really exciting. Quite enjoying this!

    Posted 3 years ago #

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