Rohan Dennis wins Ineos Zwift ride as record 15k fans ride along
They broke the Zwift record for most riders in a mass participation virtual race
Rohan Dennis beat his team-mates to claim victory in his Ineos team's first-ever Zwift race.
All 30 riders in the British squad took part, with Dennis making his winning move on the early slopes of the Alpe du Zwift climb, putting out 450w as he rode to victory.
The Australian finished 56 seconds ahead of Eddie Dunbar in second, with Michał Kwiatkowski in third, three seconds behind the Irishman.
Cameron Wurf finished fourth, just over two minutes down, while Pavel Sivakov took fifth, coming over the line eight seconds later.
Chris Froome finished sixth, with a deficit of 2-33 to Dennis, and the four-time Tour champion said in an interview broadcast during the event that his recovery from injury is "pretty much complete".
>>> Geraint Thomas to complete three 12-hour Zwift rides to raise money for the NHS
Closing out the top 10 was Ivan Sosa, Ethan Hayter, Jonathan Castroviejo and Carlos Rodriguez.
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Before the race, Ineos also hosted a mass participation ride, with 15,530 people joining the WorldTour team and helping to beat the record for the most people taking part in a single Zwift event.
Reacting to beating his team-mates, Dennis said: "There was supposed to be a plan, but in the end I felt it was better to just go for it, why not? It worked out!
"It was a good little hit out, I spotted Cam (Wurf) with me and I couldn’t let him sit on my wheel for too long, so I pushed a bit harder and dropped him, then I could sit on my TT pace from there.
"It’s a time when nobody is allowed to ride with anybody so we’re lucky to have technology like this so we can do something for the fans to keep them across what we’re doing and how we’re training."
Dave Brailsford added: "It’s fantastic. I was absolutely gripped and it was really enjoyable to watch. Fair play to Rohan – you can see why he’s the world time trial champion. You can see Eddie is in pretty good shape, but I think the rider that caught my eye was Chris Froome. That’s a hell of a ride from a guy who is coming back and that’s a great indicator that he’s on track and going to be in the mix when we get back out there on the road."
Thank you for reading 20 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access
Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription
Join now for unlimited access
Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
Jonny was Cycling Weekly's Weekend Editor until 2022.
I like writing offbeat features and eating too much bread when working out on the road at bike races.
Before joining Cycling Weekly I worked at The Tab and I've also written for Vice, Time Out, and worked freelance for The Telegraph (I know, but I needed the money at the time so let me live).
I also worked for ITV Cycling between 2011-2018 on their Tour de France and Vuelta a España coverage. Sometimes I'd be helping the producers make the programme and other times I'd be getting the lunches. Just in case you were wondering - Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen had the same ham sandwich every day, it was great.