admin I’ve been a huge fan of cycling since I was a young lad back in Manchester. I fell in love with the sport whilst training for my local basketball team in the centre of the Manchester velodrome. I’d watch cyclists circle around the court at break-neck speeds and at gravity-defying angles. From those days on I became obsessed with the sport, learning to build bikes, joining a team and studying the etiquette and strategies by watching the Grand Tours on TV.
Nearly 25 years on from my initial experiences with the sport, professional cycling has been through some of its darkest times. That said, cycling’s popularity with commuters and hobbyists continues to grow globally. Having lived in Melbourne, Australia for seven years it was incredible to see groups (pelotons) numbering in the hundreds ride in the early hours of every morning. Golf (the sport) has become particularly worried about the adoption of cycling by middle-aged men who are looking for a status hobby. Recreational cycling has the advantage of not requiring as much dedication and devotion of quality time which is necessary to achieve a respectable handicap.
One of the growth areas of cycling as a fitness pursuit is the spinning craze being driven by brands like Peloton and SoulCycle. Peloton in particular has made spinning a connected experience, using hardware and content to invigorate what has always been a fairly monotonous pastime. The brand that is really driving change in the sport though is Zwift.
Zwift was founded in 2014 in California and combines massively multiplayer online gaming with fitness and competitive sport. The platform has attracted over 1 million users since its beginnings and this year has launched its first pro cycling league.
A Zwift subscriber (or Zwifter) can connect their smart indoor trainer to the online platform and ride around the virtual world of Watopia, viewed through a laptop, tablet or various connected screens. Zwift has also mapped real world courses, including the London, Richmond Virginia, New York City and Innsbruck. The platform controls access to these real-world courses carefully to ensure that the social aspect of riding or racing with other Zwifters is not lost. Creating a virtual world which is too big would result in a disconnected experience.
Having been an early adopter of Zwift I’m a huge advocate for the platform. Right now though I’m very interested in its evolution into the competitive space of pro riding. It’s fair to say that the first race of its eSport Pro Cycling League was a strange experience as a spectator. The race was broadcast live through online channels, cameras cutting between the virtual race and some participants on the stationary trainers. Unlike the romance and drama of the Tour De France, what transpired was fairly dull.
The avatars in the race didn’t have pained expressions on their faces and the real participants looked disconnected from the energy of the real sport. Perhaps this is an area that will develop as the competition matures? The additional eSports elements of the competition becomes interesting with the ability for riders to obtain power-ups, making it easier to increase speed or climb up hills. This is obviously a new aspect to the sport which may compensate for the lack of risk or skill involved in real road racing.
Opinions are bound to be mixed for this first competition but I’m pleased that cycling is pushing into this space. To me the eSports version of cycling will never eclipse the spectacle of a Grand Tour but I think it will lead to technological advances, improved entertainment value and greater accessibility for serious athletes and enthusiasts alike.
Zwift has the potential to positively impact professional cycling in a similar way that XFL changed live sport. Although the XFL subsequently failed, it left a lasting imprint on sport, bringing athletes closer to the spectator either through technology or marketing. In a similar way, Zwift makes professional cyclists more accessible. 66 of the 2018 Tour De France competitors maintain profiles on the platform. It could be used to make their training and racing data more accessible and create levels of transparency in the sport which are severely lacking.
My hope is that the organizers of the professional sport are watching the platform closely and will look at using it as a test bed for more experimental and cutting edge additions so that I can selfishly continue to derive more enjoyment from it for the next 25 years and beyond.
