For those who have always dreamed of riding with a pro, World Bicycle Day on June 3rd is the day that dream can come true.
The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), in cooperation with its partner Zwift, is organising four virtual rides on the Zwift indoor training platform, open to everyone who has a connected home trainer and access to the Zwift software.
Each ride will be led by one of cycling’s current stars: four-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome (Team Ineos), 2017 UCI World Champion for mountain bike cross-country Olympic (XCO) and 2016 UCI World Champion for mountain bike Marathon (XCM) Jolanda Neff (Trek Factory Racing XC), holder of the UCI Hour Record timed by Tissot Victor Campenaerts (NTT Pro Cycling Team) and reigning UCI World Champion in the individual time trial, team pursuit and individual pursuit Chloé Dygert Owen (Twenty20 Pro Cycling), who also holds the world record in the individual pursuit.
Overwhelmed? Don’t be! The four rides are just that: rides. Everybody sticks together and there will be no leader board. They are social outings open to everyone regardless of their fitness level and – thanks to four start times spread throughout the day – of their time zone. Participants will be able to ask questions during the rides via Zwift’s chat platform, with everyone in the peloton seeing the answers.
Details of the rides are as follows:
9h00 CET with Victor Campenaerts (BEL) on a flat portion of the Innsbruck 2018 UCI Road World Championships in Austria (8.8km with 78m climbing),
Midday CET with Jolanda Neff (SUI) on the Jungle Circuit of Watopia (7.9km with 79m climbing), a mainly off-road circuit suited to virtual mountain biking,
18h00 CET with Chris Froome (GBR) on a portion of the Richmond 2015 UCI Road World Championships course in the USA (16.3km with 142m climbing),
21h00 CET with Chloé Dygert Owen (USA) on a portion of the Yorkshire 2019 UCI Road World Championships course in Great Britain (13.8km with 240m climbing).
You can find the recap of each event on the Zwift UCI World Bicycle Day Rides page, and register for the rides you wish to attend.
Participants will also be encouraged to make a donation to World Bicycle Relief (WBR), which builds and distributes a rugged, specially-designed, locally-assembled bicycle called the Buffalo Bike to students, healthcare workers, and entrepreneurs in rural regions of developing countries. The aim is to provide these populations with easier access to education, health services and economic opportunities thanks to the power of bicycles. On World Bicycle Day, the UCI is partnering with WBR to launch the new #CyclingActsofKindness campaign and digital platform, which celebrates the idea that one act of kindness can change the world.
Donation page: https://worldbicyclerelief.org/donate/
So forget your watts, your cadence and your position, and join the pros in one, more or all of our UCI Zwift rides in honour of World Bicycle Day.