Flamme Rouge Racing, along with partners Liv/Giant, The Warrior Games, Femme Cycle Collab, and Bikealicious, have just announced a race/ride tour to celebrate Le Tour de France Femmes. Just like Le Tour, Liv du Tour is a 9-stage event from August 1-9.
Riders can complete the tour by participating in women’s races, men’s races, or group rides. Read on for details!
Race Distinctives
What makes Liv du Tour special?
- 9 days of action-packed back-to-back stages
- Multiple time slots for schedule convenience
- Riders grouped by Zwift pace categories (A-D)
- GC, Sprinter, and Climber classifications (see details on Liv du Tour homepage)
- Innovative eGap calculation allows all time slots to compete together
Women’s Tour Stages
The women’s tour covers ~243km and ~2500m of elevation. Events are at 8:30, 13:00, 17:30, and 23:30 UTC. Sign up at zwift.com/events/tag/livdutour >
- Stage 1 – August 1 – Rolling
- Downtown Dolphin (Crit City)
- 15 Laps (29.5km, 255m)
- Stage 2 – August 2 – Flat
- The Magnificent 8 (Watopia)
- 1 Lap (29.1km, 155m)
- Stage 3 – August 3 – Hilly
- Chasing the Sun (Makuri Islands)
- 1 Lap (35.1km, 314m)
- Stage 4 – August 4 – iTT, Rolling
- The Epiloch (Scotland)
- 2 Laps (19.2km, 163m)
- Stage 5 – August 5 – Hilly
- Casse-Pattes (France)
- 1 Lap (23.8km, 155m)
- Stage 6 – August 6 – Hilly
- Figure 8 Reverse (Watopia)
- 1 Lap (29.9km, 254m)
- Stage 7 – August 7 – Mountain
- Ven-10 (France)
- 1 Lap (11.4km, 815m)
- Stage 8 – August 8 – Rolling
- Sugar Cookie (Watopia)
- 1 Lap (39.2km, 259m)
- Stage 9 – August 9 – Hilly
- Mayan 8 (Watopia)
- 1 Lap (26.1km, 249m)
Men’s Tour Stages
The men’s tour covers ~292km and ~3670m of elevation. Events are at 8:30, 13:00, 17:30, and 23:30 UTC. Sign up at zwift.com/events/tag/giantdutour >
- Stage 1 – August 1 – Rolling
- Three Musketeers (France)
- 1 Lap (37.8km, 208m)
- Stage 2 – August 2 – Flat
- The Magnificent 8 (Watopia)
- 1 Lap (29.1km, 155m)
- Stage 3 – August 3 – Hilly
- Chasing the Sun (Makuri Islands)
- 1 Lap (35.1km, 314m)
- Stage 4 – August 4 – iTT, Hilly
- Mayan 8 (Watopia)
- 1 Lap (26.1km, 249m)
- Stage 5 – August 5 – Hilly
- Yorkshire Double Loop (Yorkshire)
- 1 Lap (29.7km, 547m)
- Stage 6 – August 6 – Hilly
- Figure 8 Reverse (Watopia)
- 1 Lap (29.9km, 254m)
- Stage 7 – August 7 – Mountain
- La Reine (France)
- 1 Lap (22.9km, 1200m)
- Stage 8 – August 8 – Rolling
- Sugar Cookie (Watopia)
- 1 Lap (39.2km, 259m)
- Stage 9 – August 9 – Hilly
- Whole Lotta Lava (Watopia)
- 3 Laps (41.7km, 509m)
How eGAP Works
eGAP is Flamme Rouge Racing’s innovative method that allows racers across multiple time slots to compete against each other in a time-based GC format. The following is taken from the Liv du Tour page’s “Competition Format” section:
General Classification (GC) – eGAP
eGAP is calculated for each rider each stage by determining their time gap to the winner of their PACE GROUP event who is a FULL TOURIST. Time to complete a stage does not matter, GC in the virtual world and this event is measured by eGAP.
eGAP Example:
- 0830 PACE GROUP B – Rider wins in 65mins and second place was 66mins 30seconds
- Winner receives ZERO eGAP
- Second place receives 90seconds eGAP
***Exception***
eGAP can only be set by the first FULL TOURIST to complete the event. If a new rider wins then the most eGAP the next full tourist will receive is +1s.
Special note – iTT Stage
Stage combines all riders from all events by PACE GROUP and will rank them by their race time to complete the stage.
- No draft and no advantage by race by time.
- One stage winner for each combined PACE GROUP and all eGAPs are calculated from the fastest time from the first full tourist.
- iTTs give riders an opportunity to affect their Tour competitors no matter where they are in the World.
Race Registration
Liv/Giant du Tour events are on Zwift’s public calendar, so you’ll need to sign up for each event there.
Zwift event registration links:
- Liv du Tour (Women’s): zwift.com/events/tag/livdutour
- Giant du Tour (Men’s): zwift.com/events/tag/giantdutour
Additionally, you’ll want to register on Flamme Rouge Racing’s website (click “Register Participation” on the Tour’s homepage) to get helpful emails around the event and so you’re eligible for giveaways.
Group Ride du Tour
Bikealicious is hosting a banded group ride version of the tour, for those interested in riding without competing. Events are at 0600 and 1735 UTC daily.
The routes used will be the same as the Liv du Tour (above). I’m not seeing the events on the calendar yet, but I imagine they’ll be available at zwift.com/events/tag/bikealicious.
Questions or comments?
Be sure to check the Liv du Tour homepage for complete info, race rules, etc. Got other questions or comments? Share below!
I’ve looked at this and the event homepage and still have zero idea what a Full Tourist is. Can anyone provide a link or explanation? Ta!
A full turist is one that completes all stages, not just one or a few of the races.
It means exactly the opposite of what I first thought it meant 😅
I would have been interested in this series but living in the UK and working 8.30 to 5 each day with an hour commute each way the times are just not doable. Such a shame as I expect there are a lot of people in the same situation.
This is the reality for many people. But these multi stage race events have always faced this issue. The good thing is you can jump in any of the races that suit, even if it’s only the last stage.
Thanks, but the whole point of doing these tours is to test yourself by committing to every stage, not just the ones that you may happen to be able to fit in at a weekend. I appreciate that between 6-7pm uk time is s premium slot, but this is the only time many of us can race due to work and family commitments.
Or the misfortune of being a teacher whose schoolyear begins that exact week…
Hey Lizzie, as far as i can see the times given are UTC, an hour behind BST, so the 17:30 UTC will be 18:30 BST which would hopefully work for you?
My only Zwift complaints: my wheels sinking in to plywood up those stupid stairs in London and an utter lack of Zwift using their own participant time zone data to pick time zones for participants. 38 time zones on Earth. One holds 500 people and one holds 1.4 billion. Certainly we don’t need 38 races but geesh Zwift…
“Riders grouped by Zwift pace categories (A-D)”
Why? If Racing Scores are an “improvement”?
No idea. I don’t plan the events, I just write the blog posts. 😚
😂
Interesting event.. odd to use pace category (A-D) vs race sore… anyway possible typo “for those interested in riding with competing” .. likely “for those interested in riding without” competing
Fixed the typo, thanks!
Mammoth, unforgivable scheduling times for this event. Very large number of US-based Zwifters in the eastern USA time zone will be largely unable to commit to every stage.
4:30am EDT time slot. Then a 9am EDT time slot? The first is far too early. The second is an hour after work starts for most of us.Why not a 6am EDT time? This would also allow our friends in the UK to race during lunch hour (ish).
These times are dumb. Sorry, I’m not usually so blunt. But this is dreadful logistics.
“Very large number of US-based Zwifters in the eastern USA time zone”
The entire continent and the western hemisphere are close time wise.
Outside of the us-centric wording , Tris is totally right. The time zones are a bit wonky for the eastern seaboard. I know there is no perfect way to do this, but there has got to be a better way. It will unfortunately affect uptake into a series by an organizer that is always hitting the ball out of the park.
For routes where there are multiple laps (like the 1st stage), are the segments for sprinter/climber classification counted from each lap? Or only the best time counts? Are sprinter/climber segments in play for the iTT route as well?
I’d really love to know the details on the sprinter/climber classification here. Is it eGAP measured across all sprints/KOMs or points-based via eGAP indirectly? Does final placing count at all for sprints?
Oh I hope there’s a kit at the finish line
This event schedule is awful for the USA west coast. I’m only not working or asleep for three of the nine stages.
A little note to whomever designed this series. One would imagine after a hard stage a more easy one would follow, this series seems to have been designed as a SUFFERFEST. a 26K Hilly TT?!? Did we really need that? OMG!! Only one Flat stage and from Stage 3 on-wards only Hilly and Mountain Stages? Ah! one last rant, it’d have been nice to have a CG Results page on ZP, without requiring everyone to register on FRR Website.