Cycling: Greg van Avermaet had the best legs in today's virtual Tour of Flanders. The Belgian was able to prevail on the role ahead of Oliver Naesen and Nicholas Roche.
The Tour of Flanders live from home
Actually, the 104th edition of the Tour of Flanders should have taken place today. But the corona epidemic is also slowing down cycling. That's why the pros now prefer to train at home on the roller. However, 13 of them took part in the virtual Tour of Flanders today. 32 kilometers had to be covered on the online platform Bkool, of course not without the legendary climbs Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg. After a few interviews with the participants, their virtual projections went to the starting line. From there it started straight away at full throttle.
Van Avermaet can also do it on a roll
The riders first had to agree on a common pace, which was only more or less achieved after a few minutes. When it came to the decisive phase, a strong quartet was able to break away with Oliver Naesen (AG2R La Mondiale), Thomas De Gendt (Lotto - Soudal), Nicolas Roche (Sunweb) and Greg van Avermaet (CCC). The reigning Olympic champion – who will even be the title holder for five years due to the cancellation of the Olympic Games – finally tried his hand at being a soloist. Of course, the real Greg van Avermaet, like his colleagues, didn't wear a helmet at home. In his figure, however, the golden helmet shone in the virtual representation - and rightly so. Because the Belgian couldn't be caught anymore. In the sprint, Oliver Naesen secured second place ahead of Nicolas Roche.
Still problems with the transmission
It wasn't the first time that road cycling pros have raced virtually on the roller. What is new, however, is that such a race was streamed live on Eurosport and professionally commented on. Despite initial problems, this first test can be considered a success. However, it is of course important to get the transmission difficulties under control in the future. Not infrequently, viewers had to endure jerking in picture and sound. However, it was excellent to get the pros faded in. For example, Michael Matthews (Sunweb) rode in the bedroom, while Zdenek Stybar and Remco Evenepoel (Deceuninck – Quick-Step) clocked up their kilometers on the patio.
The Olympic champion @GregVanAvermaet of @CCCProTeam wins the Virtual Edition of the @RondeVlaanderen 2020!#DeRonde2020 #RondeVanVlaanderen #round2020 pic.twitter.com/yWth4RIl5p
— fuboTV (@fuboTV) April 5, 2020