Zwift announced as official training partner for L’Etape du Tour

If you’re planning to sign up for L’Etape du Tour next year, you’ll need to be in peak form: the 135km route from Albertville to Val Thorens takes in over 4500m of climbing.

Fortunately, Zwift can help you out, as it’s just announced that it will be delivering the official training plans for the event on its platform. As part of this, the first 30,000 riders to enrol will be able to join the L’Etape du Tour Training Club.

>>> Tour de France 2019 route details

“We, at Zwift, are really excited to be able to support entrants in their training. Zwift is a fantastically convenient way to train, making it possible to ride more often than ever before. We want to deliver entrants to that start line in the best shape, so they can enjoy the experience as much as possible,” says Eric Min, head of Zwift.

Zwift says that members of the club will be able to track their progress and unlock in-game items as they progress. They’ll also be able to take part in group structured workouts, where Zwift keeps all riders in a group regardless of their power output, so no-one is dropped.

>>> Tour de France 2019 route analysis: a climber's paradise

In addition, Zwift will host Ride to Win events, with winners getting entries to L’Etape. And if you can’t get the actual L’Etape in July, there will be longer L’Etape du Tour rides on Zwift.

Zwift has made a business of partnering with big events to mimic their courses: it partnered with the UCI to launch a version of the World Championship road race course earlier this year. It’s also just released a New York world.

“We are really excited to further broaden the reach of L’Etape du Tour with Zwift.” says Yann Le Moenner, CEO of ASO. “Zwift is a great way to train and helps bring together cyclists from all over the world. For those who cannot travel to L’Etape du Tour, the Zwift L’Etape du Tour rides will be a great way to experience the challenge of L’Etape du Tour from the comfort of your home.”