Support road.cc

Like this site? Help us to make it better.

Virtual Tour De France - Hit or Miss?

I watched both races of the first stage of the VTdF yesterday hoping for something that would satisfy my racing needs but I was sadly disappointed. For me, it was lacking the tension and jeopardy of real bike racing. Bike handling skills aren't necessary on Zwift and, while it is a team competition, I couldn't see how teams were working together during the race. And then there are the power-ups...

The virtual world of Zwift can help to make potentially dull indoor training rides more interesting for the rider. I'm not sure that it makes it a spectator sport. I want to see the suffering on the riders faces and, for me, there wasn't enough of the real riders suffering.

Perhaps it's unfair to compare the two but this is being staged during the time when the TdF should have been taking place. The organisers obviously assume the audience must be transferable and they are probably right in some respect, but it's not grabbed me so far.

If you're new please join in and if you have questions pop them below and the forum regulars will answer as best we can.

Add new comment

6 comments

Avatar
jollygoodvelo | 3 years ago
0 likes

As a big Zwift fan... I watched this weekend and the Tour for All, and it's better than nothing, but it's still missing something.

The biggest problem is there's no team tactics.  The riders are all going at threshold for most of the race until the final attacks, so everyone is just flying along together rather than protected riders using their team, and apart from riders who get dropped out of the draft on climbs, that's it.  I remember watching Dowsett in the TfA and he killed himself for 15 minutes trying to close a 20-second gap and it was never going to work.  A real life peloton at full gas stretches out and has to let up in pace for corners, roundabouts etc: on Zwift you're basically chasing the front of the group without help.

They need to make the flat and 'mildly hilly' races significantly longer in my view.  A 40km crit race works because the concertina effect in and out of corners helps tire out the riders and create mistakes: Zwift doesn't have that, so it's just a 40-minute TT smashfest, or like a points race on the track.  If they were 80-100km or more, you'd start to see more of a narrative develop, you'd get some of the peloton saving their efforts for later on, proper breaks trying to stay away, team leaders bridging across and so on.  They're probably worried that people won't watch for two hours or more, but if the product isn't good people won't watch at all.

Avatar
Awavey | 3 years ago
1 like

I think the riders do suffer as much as a normal race,I actually think Zwift races are harder efforts,its much more out and out attack full on type of riding from the start,though obviously these are not like normal TdF stages in length, but the issue youve got is its all brand new to the people in the tv booths directing what we see still.You cant default to a picture of a chateau,or cows in a field to break up the boring bits, or instantly see which riders to concentrate on with your camera,given the power ups can quickly change and boost riders whose real world performances would never be that good.

So the form book goes out the window (though its fair to say the riders who have spent alot of time racing on Zwift have a gaming advantage) and its trickier for the TV people to pick the right shots to tell the story of the race, and I dont know if all the riders are supposed to have web cams but then you bring in things like how good their broadband is most obviously have it positioned as part of the screen they are looking at for the race feed which isnt necessarily the best shot to see how they are riding, some cut in and out or are heavily pixelated.

Id go with partial hit, but thats mainly because they seem to treating the womens races equally for once.

 

 

Avatar
mdavidford replied to Awavey | 3 years ago
1 like

I don't think the OP was suggesting they weren't suffering - just that they didn't get to see enough of this in the coverage, and so didn't find it compelling.

Avatar
Awavey replied to mdavidford | 3 years ago
1 like

yep which is why I said the issue is, its trickier for the tv people to pick the right shots to show that to you  1 basically the old rules of how to broadcast a bike race dont translate across into Zwift that well thats all

Avatar
SimonAY | 3 years ago
0 likes

For me it will never compare to real road  racing so I don't. I just see it as a different type of racing that can provide a nice diversion when there's nothing else on. Bit like CX and track 

Most WT pros are seeing it the same I think and therefore the races probably aren't as good as they could be. Some of the amateur Zwift races are a much better watch 

Avatar
Spangly Shiny | 3 years ago
1 like

I'm sticking with Geraint's Tour highlights on ITV4, much more satisfying.

Latest Comments