Putting a new spin on static exercise bikes, the first eRacing Criterium, using virtual cycling app Zwift, will be held in Ballarat during the Cycling Australia Road National Championships in January.
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Mitchell Harris Wines on Doveton Street will be transformed into a virtual raceway, with senior men and women pros racing against people across Australia, following the RoadNats criterium on the Friday night.
The set-up involves a regular bike fixed to a special trainer, as well as an app, which can be used on a television.
Riders can join thousands of people from around the world, from beginners to Tour de France veterans, on virtual racetracks, including reconstructions of famous courses and fantasy tracks around volcanoes.
Anchor Point South Coast Cycling team’s Nick Locandro, from Ballarat, said he was surprised at how tough some of the virtual courses are.
He’ll be at the party in January, after beginning his second RoadNats campaign.
For him, the Zwift set-up means he’s able to train through Ballarat’s brutal winters.
“It’s a lot darker, it’s wet, visibility’s poor for people travelling in cars, so (Zwift) allows us to feel a lot safer, and gives us the ability to do the training we need to do to ride at the level we do,” he said.
“In the old days, you’d hop on the bike and just go, looking at a brick wall, but today, this is the closest thing to riding on the road.”
His coach, former professional cyclist Pat Shaw, was also full of praise for the system.
“Tomorrow, you could jump on and find you’re riding with Geraint Thomas, who won the Tour de France,” he said.
“It’s also a great mechanism for general folk to have a ride and enjoy the company of others around the world that are of a similar ability.”
For athletes, it added an extra mental challenge.
“It takes the excuse out of it, and you soon learn about an athlete how mentally strong they are too, because they’ve no longer got that ripcord they can pull to say, no, it was really raining, it was terrible weather,” he said.
The eRacing National Criterium Championships, supported by Cycling Australia, is open to all Zwift users, though to win the title, entrants will need to hold a Cycling Australia Race membership.
Mr Shaw said he was looking forward to the party atmosphere in Ballarat on the night.
“You can stand behind the athletes and cheer them on or have a go,” he said.
“There’ll be giveaways, they’ll be good ones too, then it’s onto the weekend’s racing.”
The RoadNats begin on Friday, January 4, with racing taking place all weekend.
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