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news
Chris Froome leaves it late to beat Kevin Pietersen and Melanie C in Wheels For Heroes race (+ video of full race)
Chris Froome yesterday evening left it late to overhaul ex-England cricketer Kevin Pietersen and former Spice Girl Melanie C to win the Wheels For Heroes race on Zwift. That’s a sentence no-one could have predicted at the start of 2020, moreover on a weekend that in normal times would have seen the climax of Tour de France build-up race, the Criterium du Dauphiné.
(NB - To watch the race, go to the 20-minute point of the video above)
These are, of course, far from normal times, but while some sports are slowly returning – the FA Premier League resumes behind closed doors on Saturday – we’re still almost two months away from seeing the return of cycling, with the revised UCI WorldTour calendar due to start on 1 August.
Online platforms such as Zwift, however, mean that competitive cycling in at least a virtual form has been able to continue and while it is no substitute for the real thing, it has provided some diversion – and not least last night’s event in aid of Wheels For Heroes, broadcast live by Sky Sports, which pitched four-time Tour de France winner Froome against some very unlikely opposition.
Besides Pietersen, who dreamt up the challenge with Froome, and the pop star formerly known as Sporty Spice, others tackling Zwift’s Volcano Course were footballers Ryan Giggs and Steph Houghton, ex- England cricketers Andrew Flintoff, and Darren Gough, the singer Olly Murs, golfer Lee Westwood,. Rugby union star Maro Itoje, and broadcaster Kirsty Gallagher.
Held in a handicap format, riders headed out at staggered start times on the 22-kilometre course, four-time Tour de France champion Froome, naturally, the last one out as he set about chasing down those who had set off before him.
Hosted by Laura Woods and with commentary from comedian Romesh Ranganathan and the inimitable Matt Stephens, it made for a hugely entertaining evening’s TV, and you can watch the race in full above.
It was held in support of the Wheels For Heroes initiative set up by Brompton Bike Hire to provide free loan bikes for NHS workers, which has now raised £334,000.
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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3 comments
Is it just me or was the handicap process a complete mess with everyone starting at the same time??
Froome was supposed to start 13 minutes down but everyone sets off at the same time. Watch the video at 29 mins and you can see Froome next to Steph Houghton, as soon as the race starts he sets off.
It's the same if you look at the video at 39 minutes. The race has been on for 10 minutes, Froome starts at +13 minutes but he's only at +5 minutes, he should be on the same time as Ryan Giggs who didn't compete. He's even overtaken Flintoff and 1'30 ahead of him before he's supposed to have set off.
Great charity though, and a great idea but it needs to be done properly.
Think you're right Dave - the handicap system didn't work. But Froome played the game and kept the 'tension' going by taking it easy.
It was a bit of fun though, Matt Stephens is always worth a listen, and Sporty Spice can really put out the watts!
Great fun, the prospect of Froome and/or KP losing to "a Spice Girl with one pedal" made for thrilling viewing. Chapeau, Mel C!