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Virtual Tour de France

Thanks for the thread. But not interested. Normal stages can attract hundreds of posts.

What does this say about fans' impression of Zwift's virtual Tour? It has its niche supporters but they are in the extreme minority or else don't follow (real) cycling. Keep Zwift for training, and Zwift's algorithm writers should go back to work improving the program to make it more realistic for real racing. A quick "win" will be to get rid of power ups. Embarrassing.

I am sure they could drastically improve the graphics to have more realistic scenery but not sure they would as I think the Zwift "look" is kind of their trademark?

What this proves is Zwift works for training but is no substitute for the variables and unpredictability of a real race. Just because there is no real racing happening does not mean we will watch this. Boring.
 
I watched it and really enjoyed it. It's not the same as outdoor racing but it's still really exciting and involves top athletes so who cares? Sure, there's the added layer of trainer accuracy, power meter type, etc, but that doesn't change the fact it's a bike race. And the action was constant -- no teams pulling km after km at the front, controlling the race.

So is it the same? Obviously no. But it's something, and that something was a lot of fun to watch. Then tomorrow I get to ride the course myself.

I've been to the Tour live and nothing matches that. Also the results have a lot more meaning. But on television it's nothing special.
 
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It's not the same as outdoor racing but it's still really exciting and involves top athletes so who cares?

I've been to the Tour live and nothing matches that. Also the results have a lot more meaning. But on television it's nothing special.

Eh, what?

I'm pretty sure everybody on here cares...

And I'm also pretty sure nobody agrees that road racing on television is nothing special...
 
I would like it better if they advertised it as what it is: an entertainment in raceless times, a small diversion, some fun. A possibility for some riders who have certain strengths that do not exactly translate on the road to show themselves. A possibility to show the sponsors. And for a platform like Zwift a possibility to attract more users.
It's in no way "cycling history" or something that can equal real racing, just on another level.
Them advertising it like that does of course leave people disappointed and annoyed.
 
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Yeah -- it's a fun athletic event but it shouldn't be treated too seriously. There's too many uncertainties: how riders are weighed, where the power meter is (ahead of or behind drivetrain), power meter accuracy (known issues: 1-sided power meters, oval chainrings on SRMS, general 2% precision), whether riders are at altitude, etc. But if one treats it as a fun diversion, and stops trying to judge it as a substitute for outdoors, it's really cool.

I would like it better if they advertised it as what it is: an entertainment in raceless times, a small diversion, some fun. A possibility for some riders who have certain strengths that do not exactly translate on the road to show themselves. A possibility to show the sponsors. And for a platform like Zwift a possibility to attract more users.
It's in no way "cycling history" or something that can equal real racing, just on another level.
Them advertising it like that does of course leave people disappointed and annoyed.
 
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Reactions: Cookster15
Yeah -- it's a fun athletic event but it shouldn't be treated too seriously. There's too many uncertainties: how riders are weighed, where the power meter is (ahead of or behind drivetrain), power meter accuracy (known issues: 1-sided power meters, oval chainrings on SRMS, general 2% precision), whether riders are at altitude, etc. But if one treats it as a fun diversion, and stops trying to judge it as a substitute for outdoors, it's really cool.

Whether their internet works...
 
It was fun to watch it once or twice, but it's nothing like real cycling. It's funny to see how cyclists ride through the middle of a group without causing a crash. Tactically it's very different. It's a kind of combination of cycling and video gaming. Nothing wrong with that, but I don't think the results tell a lot about the chances on the road.
 
It was fun to watch it once or twice, but it's nothing like real cycling. It's funny to see how cyclists ride through the middle of a group without causing a crash. Tactically it's very different. It's a kind of combination of cycling and video gaming. Nothing wrong with that, but I don't think the results tell a lot about the chances on the road.

I don't think it was any fun at all. I watched one race or something like that back in March or April and then stopped bothering. You would almost think I only watch real cycling for the crashes, but I daresay there are more differences than that ;)
 
I think the level of interest in this thread is the only evidence needed of what the majority of long term fans of the sport of cycling think about a virtual Tour de France. It is a very poor substitute for the real thing. I would not even rate it at 1%. Also funny that these "races" are so short, obviously because they know nobody is going to pay money to sit behind a computer watching 5 or 6 hours of virtual racing. But I guess until coronavirus is behind us we should get used to it. I get more enjoyment from old race videos. YouTube is our friend.
 
Not sure watching these computer races match the real life experience of riding from a huge carpark with a massive pack on my back to stand wet and freezing cold in cycling shorts (because I forgot to pack my tracky bottoms and my flask had leaked inside my pack) on the Planch de Belles Filles for 8 hours in 2014 the real thing is still the best, even if it does suck a bit sometimes!
 

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