Virtual Tour de France 2020 FAQ

Events
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Découvrez le Tour de France virtuel 2020 en Français

Erfahre hier mehr über die virtuelle Tour de France 2020 in Deutsch

バーチャルツール・ド・フランス2020の詳細はこちら

Zwift is pleased to announce that this July, we will host the world’s best women’s and men’s professional cyclists in the Virtual Tour de France. This pro-only invitational race will be broadcast live on television in many countries, and also will be streamed on zwift.com

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This FAQ will discuss how you can watch your favorite pro teams compete. To learn how you ride those same courses on the new France and Paris maps, please head over to the Virtual L’Etape du Tour de France FAQ

What is the Virtual Tour de France?
The Virtual Tour de France is a stage race inspired by the Tour de France. Zwift partnered with the owner of the Tour de France, the Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), to create the invite-only, six-stage race inspired by the Tour.

Who will participate in the Virtual Tour de France?
Some of the largest and most well-known professional racers and teams will participate in the Virtual Tour de France. There will be both men’s and women’s teams.

Why was the Virtual Tour de France created?
Challenging times demand creative and new solutions.

After the Tour de France organizers, ASO, decided to push back the dates of the Tour de France due to COVID-19 restrictions, opening up an opportunity to create a virtual bicycle stage race inspired by the world’s premier event that transcends cycling.

How can I watch?
One of the best ways to watch is on Zwift’s YouTube page.
For all of your options, please go to Zwift’s broadcast page.

When is the Virtual Tour de France?
The Virtual Tour de France takes place during the first three weekends in July, starting on July 4.
There are two races per stage, one for men and the other for women.

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How long is the Virtual Tour de France?
The Virtual Tour de France is six stages. There are two stages every weekend, starting on Saturday, July 4, and ending on Sunday, July 19.

Stage lengths vary, but each is roughly one hour long. So get ready for action from start to finish. In other words, prepare yourself: there might not be a good time for a bathroom break while watching the race!

What are the primary differences between the Virtual Tour de France and Tour de France?
The Virtual Tour de France features a women’s race with complete parity: an equal number of stages, routes, and distances.

The Virtual Tour de France takes place on consecutive weekends instead of consecutive days.

Teams can choose different riders for each stage. It’s all about the team. Teams for each stage will be made up of four riders each.

The team leading each classification (General Classification, King of the Mountains/Queen of the Mountains, Sprint, Best Young Rider) nominates a team captain to wear the leader jersey (Yellow, Polka-Dot, Green, White)

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This sounds amazing, is there a way for non-pros to ride or race these same routes?
Look no farther than Virtual L’etape du Tour de France FAQ to learn the details.

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Stage 1: July 4: Hilly-Flat
Women’s Race 15:00 CET / 06:00 PDT / 23:00 AUS
Men’s Race 16:05 CET / 07:05 PDT / 00:05 AUS

WORLD: Watopia
ROUTE: Watopia Hilly (reverse)
LAP DISTANCE: 9.1km (5.7 miles)
ELEVATION GAIN: 100m (329 ft)
LAPS: 4
TOTAL DISTANCE: 36.4 km (22.8 miles)
ESTIMATED FINISH TIME: 47 minutes

Stage 1 recap and replay video here:

Post-stage results are on the Tour de France website

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Stage 2: July 5: Smaller Mountain
Women’s Race 15:02 CET 06:02 PDT 23:02 AUS
Men’s Race 16:07 CET 07:07 PDT 00:07 AUS

WORLD: Watopia
COURSE: Mountain
ELEVATION GAIN: 682 m (2238 ft)
LAP DISTANCE: 29.5 km (18.3 miles)
LAPS: 1
TOTAL DISTANCE: 29.5 km (18.3 miles)
ESTIMATED FINISH TIME: 45 minutes

Watch Stage 2 on Zwift’s broadcast page

Post-stage results are on the Tour de France website.

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Stage 3: July 11: Flat
Women’s Race 14:47 CET 05:47 PDT 22:47 AUS
Men’s Race 15:52 CET 06:52 PDT 23:52 AUS

WORLD: France
ROUTE: R.G.V.
LAP DISTANCE: 24km (14.9 miles)
ELEVATION GAIN PER LAP: 133m (436 ft)
LAPS: 2
TOTAL DISTANCE: 48km (29.8 miles)
ESTIMATED FINISH TIME: 60 minutes

Watch Stage 3 on Zwift’s broadcast page.
Post-stage results are on the Tour de France website

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Stage 4: July 12 Hilly
Women’s Race 14:47 CET 05:47 PDT 22:47 AUS
Men’s Race 15:52 CET 06:52 PDT 23:52 AUS

WORLD: France
ROUTE: Casse-Pattes
LAP DISTANCE: 22.9km (14.3 miles)
ELEVATION GAIN PER LAP: 155m (508 ft)
LAPS: 2
TOTAL DISTANCE: 45.8km (28.6 miles)
ESTIMATED FINISH TIME: 60 minutes

Watch Stage 3 on Zwift’s broadcast page.
Post-stage results are on the Tour de France website

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Stage 5: July 18 Mountain
Women’s Race 14:53 CET 05:53 PDT 22:53 AUS
Men’s Race 15:58 CET 06:58 PDT 23:58 AUS

WORLD: France
ROUTE: La Reine (finish at Chalet Reynard)
LAP DISTANCE: 22.9km (14.2 miles)
ELEVATION GAIN PER LAP: 1200m (3937 ft)
LAPS: 1
TOTAL DISTANCE: 22.9km (14.2 miles)
ESTIMATED FINISH TIME: 54 minutes

Watch Stage 5 on Zwift’s broadcast page

Post-stage results are on the Tour de France website .

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Stage 6: July 19 Paris
Women’s Race 14:50 CET 05:50 PDT 22:50 AUS
Men’s Race 15:55 CET 06:55 PDT 23:55 AUS

WORLD: Paris
ROUTE: Champs-Élysées
LAP DISTANCE: 6.6km (4.1 miles)
ELEVATION GAIN PER LAP: 39m (128 ft)
LAPS: 6
LEAD-IN DISTANCE: 3.2 km (1.9 miles)
TOTAL DISTANCE: 42.8 km (26.5 miles)
ESTIMATED FINISH TIME: 57 minutes

Watch the final Stage 6 on Zwift’s broadcast page

Post-stage results are on the Tour de France website .

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You have some comprehensive e-sports rules - Zwift

Will all the competitors from the teams competing in the virtual Tour de France be following the verification process?

Even professionals can misconfigure their trainers, it would make watching the races more compelling if we knew the playing field was as level as it could be!

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Zwift released some info pertaining to this, and because it is for charity, they are not being as rigid with verification. There will be some level to verify equipment I believe prior to the races, but no requirements for multiple data sets for power/HR etc.

[TdF_broadcast]

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That’s a shame, although I can imagine it could be hard to ask the pros to jump through all the verification hoops.

Even though it is a charity race there will still be a lot of kudos associated with doing well. I know Chloe Dygert was ‘impressed’ at the performances at the virtual Joe Martin stage race (Chloe Dygert surprised by TT performances at Virtual Joe Martin Stage Race | Cyclingnews) although she’s come back for the virtual Tour de France, which is good.

Actually it would be good for there to be some representation in the race from the ‘real zwifters’ of the world, perhaps one or two community teams could have been included (maybe run a competition to get to take part and ‘race the pros’).

Perhaps next time!

1 Like
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That would be cool :wink:

Just as with the IRL Tour de France, the organizer, Amaury Sports Organization, gets to choose which teams to invite.

[TdF_broadcast]

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Yeah – in particular I’d like to see a rule that all riders measure power at their rear wheel, not at the crank or pedals.

1 Like
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Sorry if I missed this info somewhere—in the Tour Virtual event info in Zwift Companion, for each of the pro races tomorrow (men and women), there is a cat A group (the pros), but then also a cat B group (riding a big wheel!). Anyone know who these cat B group riders are? Special invite folks? Lottery winners?

[TdF_broadcast]

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Looking at the names, it appears to be some Zwift staff and some cycling notables, and some other folks. Not sure how they got invited, but I’d love to see some video of them on the Big Wheels!!

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I wasn’t sure I’d enjoy, it but tuned in to watch stage one. That was fun. The event duration- about an hour- was perfect for virtual cycling. I liked that the virtual crowds were enhanced with greater enthusiasm and bike horn sounds. And as much as I prefer the more novel parts of Watopia- like the desert-I felt the course was the most real world and great for the first stage.

But most importantly there were no tech hiccups at all. It’s easy to forget when everything just works that there are people on the other side of the screen ensuring that. So thank you Zwift for a fun event.

[TdF_broadcast]

4 Likes
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Great job! Was really fun to watch, especially the women’s race where I didn’t know as many of the riders.

Just a couple of suggestions:

1)Let the pros have the whole width of the road!
2)More virtual fans. Line the course with them and 10 or more deep at the finish!
[TdF_broadcast]

5 Likes
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Where can I find full results for the races and the points/KOM/Youth classifications?

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Hi @Brenda_Jones welcome to Zwift forums!

The Tour de France website has the post-race standings
[TdF_broadcast]

1 Like
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Not sure how much control Zwift HQ has over the display of metric overlays but would like to see the gradient display showing more . It was in a perfect spot just below the top 10 leader board when it was showing. Why not just leave it up all race long ?

2 Likes