Virtual Tour de France stage 4 winner Freddy Ovett responded to Jonathan Vaughters' recent comments about virtual racing, agreeing that it is "very different" from road racing, but disputing his comparison to running He states.

Vaughters took to Twitter on Saturday after the third stage of the virtual Tour, which is being raced on the Zwift platform.

"Look at the power profile of today's virtual TdF. These races do not mimic road racing and have none of the physiological demands of road racing. It's a completely different animal," Vaughters wrote.

"I'm not knocking Zwift. I'm just fascinated by the vast difference in physiological demands between virtual racing and on-road racing. Virtual bike racing is physiologically more similar to running than road bike racing."

"The virtual bike race is more similar to running than to road bike racing.

When one user suggested that virtual racing "flattens the power profile, turns it into a threshold contest, and leaves nothing to attack," he replied: "Bingo.

Orbet, who won the fourth stage of the virtual Tour de France on Sunday, is a former runner who only took up cycling five years ago after following in the running footsteps of his father Steve, the 1980 Olympic 800 meter champion.

"I don't know Jonathan Vaughters' running history, but I honestly don't think it's very deep. I don't know Jonathan Vaughters' running history, but I honestly don't think it's very deep. Running is a whole different thing, so I don't know what he's talking about," Ovett said at the victory press conference.

"With running, a lot of people seem to think that tactics don't matter, but if you've ever seen someone lead for 10,000 meters or 1,500 meters from start to finish, it's probably when you're watching kids under 8 in a school race. I think we need to respect runners and not just assume that the strongest person wins by just running as fast as they can. It's a little more complicated than that."

Nevertheless, Ovett agreed with Vaughters' assessment that virtual racing is far removed from real road racing and is a completely different discipline, but insisted that the sport has a place.

"I agree with his opinion that Zwift and outdoor racing are completely different. People need to stop making that comparison; Zwift is not trying to be like outdoor racing and outdoor racing is not trying to be like Zwift. We need to respect that," he said.

"These are two platforms that a lot of people enjoy in different ways. We need to value Zwift, it's another asset to cycling, another discipline like cyclocross or mountain biking. eRacing is another discipline

"Just because I won a Zwift race at the Tour de France doesn't not win the Tour de France - of course not.

Orbet is currently on the Israel Cycling Academy's Continental team, but UCI rules allow him to compete sporadically, as in this year's Tour de Rwanda, from the team's WorldTour team, Israel Start-Up Nation. The team is allowed to compete sporadically from its WorldTour team, the Israeli Startup Nation.

On Sunday, he reiterated that he has a long-term vision with the team and is considering a move to the WorldTour, but has not yet decided when that will be.

"They already know my numbers on Zwift and in training. It's similar to what Vaughters is saying, but it's a different story to show that in a road race. If we can do that this year, or next year, or whenever, that's what we're working on and I'm confident it will happen at some point."

"Whether it's sooner or later, we'll have to see. We want to be on the World Tour as soon as possible, but only when we are ready and deserve it. I want to guarantee that spot." "

If he graduates from the World Tour in 2021, Ovett will ride with Chris Froome, whose move from Team Ineos was announced this week. four years ago, Ovett made a big impression riding with the Tour de France champion It will be especially exciting for Ovett, who made a big impression running with the Tour de France champion four years ago.

"I had a great one-on-one training ride with him a few years ago. He won't remember it, but I do. He's a great guy. I was a young guy in my first year of cycling, and he rode with me for four hours," Ovett explained.

"For someone just starting out in the sport, that moment was priceless. I think it says a lot about him to do something like that. For me, it was an iconic moment for him. When I heard he was coming, I was very excited and it's huge for the future of the team. I'm excited to see what he can do and to learn from arguably one of the greatest cyclists of all time."