Your chance to ride with Geraint Thomas (thanks to Zwift)
The Tour de France winner will be taking on some of Watopia’s roads and answering questions
For anyone who has ever wanted the chance to ride with a Tour de France winner, virtual training platform Zwift may be able to help.
Next week, Tour de France winner and Welsh cycling legend Geraint Thomas will be hitting the roads of Watopia for a group ride.
Thomas and Zwift CEO Eric Min will be answering questions as they power through the landscapes of Zwift’s virtual training universe.
The ride is open to all ages and abilities, as Team Ineos rider Thomas will ride 20.2km on the Sand and Sequoias route
Thomas will be taking on the ride on Thursday, January 23 at 11.30am Pacific Time (7.30pm British time).
The 33-year-old is an ambassador for Zwift and can be seen training around the virtual world.
Zwift has proven popular with the pro peloton, as Edvald Boasson Hagen (Dimension Data), the recently retired Steve Cummings and Alex Dowsett (Israel Cycling Academy) have all been known to use the tool.
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The software is an indoor training app that combines with a smart trainer to offer a virtual riding and running platform.
Zwift has been expanding rapidly in recent years, with races now being held online and a Zwift World Championships planned for later this year.
Team Ineos announced some big news this week, as they revealed who would be leading their squads at the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France.
Geraint Thomas and 2019 Tour de France winner Egan Bernal will share the leadership duties as the Tour, but no mention was made of whether Chris Froome will be included in the team.
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Froome has been on the road to recovery after horrific crash last summer and is determined to regain his fitness in time for the Tour.
Rohan Dennis will ride the Giro this year, allowing the Australian to also factor in his big goal for the year, the time trial at the Tokyo Olympics this summer, alongside 2019 Giro winner Richard Carapaz who joins the team this season from Movistar.
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Alex Ballinger is editor of BikeBiz magazine, the leading publication for the UK cycle industry, and is the former digital news editor for CyclingWeekly.com. After gaining experience in local newsrooms, national newspapers and in digital journalism, Alex found his calling in cycling, first as a reporter, then as news editor responsible for Cycling Weekly's online news output, and now as the editor of BikeBiz. Since pro cycling first captured his heart during the 2010 Tour de France (specifically the Contador-Schleck battle) Alex covered three Tours de France, multiple editions of the Tour of Britain, and the World Championships, while both writing and video presenting for Cycling Weekly. He also specialises in fitness writing, often throwing himself into the deep end to help readers improve their own power numbers. Away from the desk, Alex can be found racing time trials, riding BMX and mountain bikes, or exploring off-road on his gravel bike. He’s also an avid gamer, and can usually be found buried in an eclectic selection of books.
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