Zwift, the social fitness entertainment platform for cyclists, is collaborating with Prudential RideLondon, the world’s greatest festival of cycling, to create an all new virtual 3D rendering of the famous event.
Scheduled for release this summer, the route design is currently in development and will include the iconic landmarks and roads of London and Surrey familiar to cyclists from across the world.
“Our new partnership with Zwift means that thousands more riders from all around the globe can be part of the world’s greatest festival of cycling,” said Hugh Brasher, Event Director for Prudential RideLondon. “There will be a week of festival activities hosted on the Zwift platform in July including virtual versions of the women’s Classique and our two famous sportives: the Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 46 and 100.”
“London is the world’s leading city for cyclists and we’re proud to partner with its most celebrated event,” said Eric Min, Zwift CEO and co-Founder. “Our Prudential RideLondon course will be a smash hit with Zwift users across the world and I’m looking forward to riding with them on the virtual roads of London and Surrey!”
Zwift has also announced the launch of a Prudential RideLondon Training Club. Open to all Zwift users, the Training Club will focus on preparing sportive riders for Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 46 and 100 - and other events they are training for in 2016. The Training Club begins on Saturday 20 April and will comprise twice weekly group rides for all abilities, with structured training plans and a bespoke virtual Prudential RideLondon training kit.
”We work hard to help our riders prepare for the challenge of the sportives,” said Brasher. “Taking on 100 miles can seem very daunting. We’re committed to inspiring more and more new cyclists take part which is why we’ve added the new 46 mile event this year. Our work with Zwift demonstrates the forward thinking we’re bringing to mass participation cycling”
The partnership with Prudential RideLondon builds on Zwift’s recent collaborations with the 2016 Richmond Road World Championships and Amgen Tour of California. Despite only launching as a subscription business in November 2015, Zwift recently announced its user base from 145 different countries, clocked up a staggering 16 million miles (25.75 million KMs) between January and March 2016.
About Zwift
Built on a long-standing passion for the sport of cycling, Zwift is a company of dedicated cyclists that also happen to be experienced software and video game developers. Combining that passion and deep understanding of the cycling world, Zwift is the first company to use massive multiplayer gaming technology to bring the outdoor cycling experience indoors. Athletes from around the globe can ride with each other in rich, 3D-generated worlds simply by connecting their existing devices (e.g. trainers, power meters, heart rate monitors, etc) wirelessly via open industry standard ANT+ and BLE. From friendly competition to casual group rides & structured training programs, Zwift is building a community of like-minded athletes united in the pursuit of a better social cycling experience. Zwift rides can be uploaded to 3rd party fitness apps such as Strava and TrainingPeaks.
About Prudential RideLondon
1. Prudential RideLondon is the world’s greatest festival of cycling with more than 100,000 riders expected to participate this year. The 2016 event takes place over the weekend of 30-31 July. Find out more at www.PrudentialRideLondon.co.uk
2. Prudential RideLondon was developed by the Mayor of London, Transport for London and London & Partners in partnership with Surrey County Council and is sponsored by Prudential. The event is managed by the London & Surrey Cycling Partnership.
3. Prudential RideLondon has won a total of 11 major awards to date:
• European Sport Tourism Event of the Year (2014)
• London Cycling Awards Event of the Year (2014)
• BT Sport Industry Awards: Participation Event of the Year (2013 and 2014)
• UK Event Awards: Large Event of the Year (2013) and Sports Event of the Year (2013 and 2014)
• 2013 Cyclosport Industry Award, given for an outstanding contribution to the cycling industry
• Most Innovative Cycling Event and Favourite British Cyclo-Sportive in the Cycling Weekly readers’ annual poll
• UK Cycling Event of the Year in the Total Women’s Cycling readers’ awards