Each year, a few things happen on Zwift which take us by surprise and expand our view of what can be accomplished on a virtual fitness platform. “The Breakaway” is one such project.
It’s the first-ever virtual cycling team for prisoners. Based out of Oudenaarde prison in Belgium, the project is a collaboration between Decathlon, De Rode Antraciet vzw (a non-profit advocating sports activities & tradition inside prisons), Cellmade, and the Belgian Division of Justice.
Six inmates have been selected to join The Breakaway. They will be riding publicly on Zwift, both for training and in open races against thousands of riders from around the world.
The groundbreaking project may help answer an important question: can a virtual sport help inmates reintegrate into the real world?
Support the Team
The team members will remain anonymous, but you can still follow them in Companion (search for “John Doe 1, “John Doe 2”, etc) and on Strava.
John Doe 1 (find on Strava) 
John Doe 2 (find on Strava) 
John Doe 3 (find on Strava) 
John Doe 4 (find on Strava) 
John Doe 5 (find on Strava) 
John Doe 6 (find on Strava)
You can even join them on their training rides! Decathlon has published a schedule of when each rider will be on Zwift.
Breakaway vs The Law
According to the project website, in a few months the inmates will take on “their ultimate challenge”: a virtual race against judges, police officers, prison guards, and members of the Belgian Department of Justice. The race will be live-streamed on Facebook.
My Thoughts
Prison reform is a weighty topic, on both personal and societal levels. And it’s an issue which all countries struggle with to some extent. The Breakaway is based in Belgium, but I would welcome a similar project here in California, where our prison system is desperately overcrowded and truly “broken” on many levels.
It is my strongly-held belief that, for the vast majority of prisoners, a system focused on rehabilitation and healthy reintegration into society is the best solution.
People can change. And we, as Zwifters, know the power sports and fitness hold to transform mental and physical health. Perhaps Zwift can be a crucial role in helping prisoners reintegrate as healthy, productive members of society. I’d love to see it happen.
Learn More
Visit decathlonbreakaway.be to learn more about the project.
Your Comments
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This is fantastic. I would welcome ANYTHING in America that had any potential to improve the lives of inmates and decrease our recidivism rates.
This is awesome. Would love to see this idea spread to other countries.
Just love that John Doe 1 did a meet-up with John Doe 6. This is such an exciting project. Can see in Strava they are doing some decent rides and events too.
This awful! People go to jail for breaking the law, and they should be paying back to society, but not, now, I am going to be working to pay taxes so an inmate is zwifting -glad this is not in America!
You know I love this!!!!
I look forward to the E-Cycling team for crime victims; at least for the ones who weren’t killed by their attackers.
You actually think the team will be murderers? They don’t seem to have said, but since it’s about rehabilitation they will be selected based on who they actually think has a good chance of being rehabilitated… and who have some chance of being released…
Congratulations on your excellent non sequitur. Let me help you: I care more about victims than I do about criminals. You do you.
I think the idea is to make prisoners less likely to create even more victims when they get out. The “correctional” system will have to release them back into the wild eventually. It’s hard to fault them for efforts to rehabilitate.
Additionally, (at least in the US) it’s not entirely reasonable for prisons to consider victim services. They can’t even handle what they already have on their plate. Victim services are generally handled by other agencies. Complaining about victims (in this context) doesn’t seem productive.
Thoughtful reply. Thanks!