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Pierre Latour dematerialises while leading Virtual Tour de SuisseDigital Swiss 5 via YouTube

Pierre Latour dematerialises while leading Virtual Tour de Suisse

“I told myself that I was going to leave like a moron”
by Alex Bowden
Sat, Apr 25, 2020 12:04
2

Nicolas Roche (Sunweb) yesterday won the third stage of the Digital Swiss 5 e-race – but the race was probably more notable for the moment Frenchman Pierre Latour blinked out of existence while in the lead.

The Digital Swiss 5 comprises five individual races on parts of the same route planned for the 2020 Tour de Suisse.  It is being run by Velon – the venture comprising a number of the world’s leading men’s cycling teams – in conjunction with the Tour de Suisse and online turbo training platform, Rouvy.

You can watch it on the BBC iPlayer. Stages are streamed from 4.10pm each day but you can also watch the full race later.

Yesterday’s 33.5km stage to the top of Nufenen Pass saw AG2R La Mondiale’s Latour distance his rivals early, before building a significant lead on the flat portion of the route before the final climb.

Then, at the foot of the final climb, Latour somewhat unexpectedly ceased to be.

“And we have had a change at the top of the standings, I can tell you,” observed Rob Hatch on commentary. “Latour has dropped away from our screens.”

Hatch then revealed that the calibration of Latour’s turbo trainer had been checked, “and found to be incorrect.”

In other words Latour was guilty of that most modern of sporting offences – e-doping.

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The vague comments about turbo trainers being checked encourages notions of conscientious race officials scrutinising equipment, but we rather get the impression that it was Latour himself who took the decision.

“I told myself that I was going to leave like a moron,” he told La Chaine L'Equipe, which broadcasts the event. “I don’t think it would have held up on the climb." (We presume he means the believability of his power numbers, although we’re not quite sure.)

Rouvy uses augmented reality, so the footage is real, but the rider avatars are not. This led to a very exciting virtual near miss earlier in the week when Greg van Avermaet's avatar briefly seemed in danger of being taken out by a passing motorist.

Digital Swiss 5
Pierre Latour
e-racing
e-doping
Alex Bowden

Alex has written for more cricket publications than the rest of the road.cc team combined. Despite the apparent evidence of this picture, he doesn't especially like cake.

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2 comments

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esnifador | 4 years ago
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I had no idea this was going on, good to see the cycling world reacting pretty quickly in putting these sorts of events together. That's not Rob Hatch commentating though, it's Declan Quigley.

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MattieKempy | 4 years ago
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Hey, road.cc!

I'm not normally critical of your editorial standards but in this case, given the (absolutely justified) stigma around being a doper of any description, it seems a bit harsh to call Latour an e-doper when you then go on to say you get the impression that he withdrew himself from the race, presumably realising he hadn't calibrated his trainer.

Also, and this is just a personal feeling, but I can't really get excited by close passes, let alone virtual ones!

Otherwise, keep up the good work of finding entertaining content during this less-than-entertaining crisis!

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