The world’s top professional cycling teams have confirmed their participation in The Digital Swiss 5 series of races, which has been created in response to the COVID19 pandemic to keep fans engaged in the sport and give riders an opportunity to compete against each other.
The series, scheduled for April 22-26, is a collaboration between Velon and the organisers of the Tour de Suisse together with the ROUVY Indoor Cycling Reality platform. The races will take place with real video footage of roads used in the Tour de Suisse as the backdrop.
The riders, three per team, will be represented by avatars dressed in their team uniforms and riding their familiar team bikes. Each team’s line-up can change from race to race to reflect the different routes. Some will be in the Swiss mountains, others will be flat.
With riders spread out across the world and most only able to ride on their home trainers, teams have responded enthusiastically to the challenge posed by The Digital Swiss 5 races. Sixteen WorldTour and two ProContinental teams along with the Swiss national team have signed up for the series.
Participating teams
Riders are shown as avatars riding on real video footage
The riders’ bikes will be connected to “smart” trainers, which have surged in popularity as the COVID19 virus has forced millions of people to stay at home. The trainers pair with the platform and the riders watch the course and their position on their monitor in real-time. As the profile of the course goes uphill and downhill, the trainer automatically applies more or less resistance to the pedals.
Throughout the races, the riders’ data - speed, power and cadence - will be on display.
Graham Bartlett, CEO, Velon, said: “Velon is all about innovation and we wanted to do something on another level - to bring the fans real competition amongst the best teams in the world. We wanted to do something as close to live racing as we could, not just another ‘ride out’, and give the fans some real sport to watch in these tough times.”
Joko Vogel, Co-CEO Cycling Unlimited AG (Organization of Tour de Suisse, TORTOUR Ultracycling & Gravel and Alpenbrevet), said: "We are overwhelmed by how many teams have confirmed their participation in The Digital Swiss 5 in such a short time. This shows us that the need for such events is very big and very much appreciated. The professionals have the opportunity to compete under competition conditions and see where they stand. We are looking forward to this world premiere and thank everyone for having the courage to join us in this adventure."
Petr Samek, CEO, ROUVY, said: “We are happy to provide the teams and global cycling community with a digital platform for 1:1 simulation of outdoor races. This is a unique experience and moment of the history of our sport. Tour de Suisse, Velon and ROUVY have come up with unprecedented innovation and it is so exciting to be an integral part of it. All cycling enthusiasts will be able to see and compare their favourite team’s performances in real-time. ROUVY is an app where everyone’s dream of being a part of the pro-peloton becomes a reality.”
The Digital Swiss 5 schedule
Race 1:
Wednesday, April 22
Race 2:
Thursday, April 23
Race 3:
Friday, April 24
Race 4:
Saturday, April 25
Race 5:
Sunday, April 26
The team rosters and details of how and where to watch will be announced shortly.
About Velon
Velon offers unrivalled access to the best professional cycling teams in the world. Velon is owned by: BORA-hansgrohe; CCC Team; Deceuninck - Quick-Step Team; EF Pro Cycling; Lotto Soudal; Mitchelton-SCOTT; Team INEOS; Team Jumbo-Visma; Team Sunweb; Trek-Segafredo; UAE Team Emirates. Velon - from the teams to the fans.
About Cycling Unlimited AG
Joining forces in the Swiss cycling world. Infront Sports & Media AG, Swiss Cycling, TORTOUR GmbH und ProTouchGlobal GmbH are owners of Cycling Unlimited AG, an umbrella platform for biking enthusiasts. The partners bundle their extensive expertise in order to advance all levels of the sport. Well-known national cycling events for professionals and amateurs, including the Tour de Suisse, Tour de Suisse Challenge, TORTOUR Ultracycling and TORTOUR Gravel as well as the Swiss Cycling Alpenbrevet belong to the portfolio. The primary objective of Cycling Unlimited AG is to establish a complete community and communication platform for everyone who has made cycling a part of their life.
About ROUVY
The Czech company ROUVY is one of the most popular providers of indoor training software solutions in the cycling community. ROUVY distinguishes itself from other providers thanks to realistic representations of the track simulations. These are based on real video recordings of the routes. Besides a variety of existing routes like the Furka Pass, the Stelvio or other cycling classics, ROUVY also offers a wide range of virtual events for the benefit of its user community.