Winning the Tour of Flanders from your attic is possible! The Belgian Greg Van Avermaet (CCC) proved it on Sunday by winning in a virtual round which opposed thirteen runners pedaling on rollers, connected to each other via an internet platform. The real Tour of Flanders, originally scheduled for Sunday, having been canceled (or postponed) following the coronavirus pandemic, the organizer Flanders Classics had set up a "Lockdown Edition". The goal: to allow the tens of thousands of fans "weaned from cycling" to vibrate for their idols, the race being broadcast by Flemish public television. A consolation, too, for the sponsors in these times of scarcity.
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The fans of the Olympic champion will not have been disappointed, Van Avermaet winning, at 35, with 20 seconds ahead of his compatriot Oliver Naesen and the Irishman Nicolas Roche. And if it was only a virtual race, the effort was very real to him. The proof by the abandonment of the Australian Michael Matthews, at the end of the ... roll and forced to abandon 13 kilometers from the finish after "an effort too violent" for him.
Van Avermaet, installed in the attic of his home in Dendermonde (Belgium) could rejoice after having twice finished second (2014, 2017) and once third (2015) in the real race.
"My granddaughter, who did not understand why her dad was busy shopping at home, is very happy for me"
Greg Van Avermaet"I hope that the real Tour of Flanders can take place in autumn and that I can then really win it," said training leader CCC, a Polish team in great financial difficulty since the start of the Covid-19 crisis. . "My granddaughter (who appeared on screen from time to time behind her father, editor's note), who did not understand why her dad was busy doing a home run, is very happy for me", continued, hilarious , the Belgian. “It was a funny feeling: we suffer a lot without having the feeling of being in the race. I think my heart rate has never been higher. ”
"But it was very funny. I think we all had fun despite the frustration of not being pushed by the crowd. In these difficult times, it was a very good idea, ”he concluded. In concrete terms, viewers will have watched a race on their separate TV screen in two: on the left the runners filmed in full effort at their home and on the right the virtual race in video game mode. This "e-cycling" event was made possible by a digital platform and interactive live streaming trying to get as close as possible to the real racing conditions.
In Monaco, or in his cellar
We could thus see the runners grimacing during the climbs of the three hills in the program of the reduced test to the last 32 kilometers of the real Round: the Kruisberg, the Vieux Quaremont and the Paterberg. "The suction effect was also reproduced, the effort being more intense for the lead runner than for those placed in his wheel," said Belgian Tim Wellens after his performance from the balcony of his apartment in .. Monaco. "I probably had a better view than Oliver Naesen who pedaled in his cellar in Belgium," he joked.
This first virtual race in history could inspire other organizers. The Tour de Suisse would think of the same kind of race over three stages with thirteen teams of three riders. The program's viewing figures released by the Flemish television Sporza were not known Sunday, but there is little doubt that the distribution will be met with great success. Each year, it is normally hundreds of thousands of Flemings who gather along the routes of the Round.
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