Chris Froome is officially on Zwift and has been putting in some monster rides
The four-time Tour de France winner is restricted to training indoors
Chris Froome has often been sporadic when sharing his workouts on social media.
Unsurprisingly fans are always hungry for an insight into the training of the four-time Tour de France winner, with Froome sometimes posting some of his more impressive early-season rides on Strava.
But with the current coronavirus lockdown, the 34-year-old has been forced to find alternative ways to train as he hasn’t been outside on the bike in a month.
Froome is currently at home in Saint-Raphael in the south of France, not far from Nice, where he is not allowed to ride outside as French authorities have put a ban on outdoor cycling in an attempt to curb the spread of coronavirus.
Alongside a rigorous strength training programme, Froome has recently been putting in some serious kilometres on the indoor training app Zwift, after he and his Ineos team-mates took part in their first ever virtual race.
After a few test rides in early April, Froome has been upping the distances of his Zwift rides, before he took part in a group ride with fans on April 12, followed by the Team Ineos race, won by Rohan Dennis.
The following day, Monday (April 13), Froome then spent a long shift in the saddle, riding for six hours and 22 minutes, racking up 166km.
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Froome rode two laps around the Mayan section of the Watopia course, before heading back to the Volcano and completing a number of loops around the virtual landmark.
According to the Zwift Companion app, Froome averaged 184 watts for the duration, with a maximum power of 517w, which he hit around 100km and four hours into the ride.
Froome didn’t stop there however, he followed up the next day with a 118km indoor ride, which took him three hours and 21 minutes.
This time rode the almost pan-flat out-and-back of Fuego Flats, before heading through Titans Grove and then returning to the volcano to finish off the ride.
He averaged 253w for the whole ride, with a long one hour and 40-minute block spent between 300 and 400w in the first half, before he dropped down to around 150w for the final hour.
It looks like Froome Zwifters could be seeing a lot more of Froome out in the virtual world, so keep an eye out and you might spot a seven-time Grand Tour winner.
Froome isn’t the only Team Ineos rider to be putting in some major long-distance rides on Zwift.
>>> The Sufferfest unveils new workout described as ‘the future of indoor cycling tests’
Geraint Thomas, winner of the 2018 Tour de France, is currently halfway through his mission to ride three 12-hour days on Zwift, to raise money for the NHS.
The Welshman will be spending three consecutive days in the saddle, riding in his garage from his home in Wales.
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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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