Egan Bernal (Team Ineos) will enter the world of Zwift racing on Saturday when he takes part in the third stage of the virtual Tour de France.

Bernal, along with many of his compatriots who are returning to racing after a four-month layoff due to a coronavirus outbreak, will be traveling from Colombia to Europe next week on a special chartered flight to begin preparations for his Tour de France defense. Bernal will ride stage 3 with Ineos teammates Ethan Hayter, Christian Nies and Michael Golas.

The two stages this weekend are the "R.G.V." and "Casse-Pattes" courses, with a few hundred meters of climbing in the 48 km third stage and 45.8 km fourth stage, respectively.

Stage 1 winner Ryan Gibbons (NTT Pro Cycling) will return for stage 3 to defend his overall lead with Max Walscheid, Rasmus Tiller, and Edvald Boasson Hagen. Women's leader TIBCO Silicon Valley Bank will head into stage 3 with Kirsten Faulkner, Nina Kessler, Emily Newsom, and Kendall Ryan, who finished second in the opening stage.

Michael Matthews (Team Sunweb), who performed well in the Digital Swiss 5 Virtual Race earlier this year, will be joined on stage 3 by Elia Viviani (Cofidis), Nasser Bouhanni (Alcare Sumsic), Belgian champion Tim Merlier ( Alpecin Phoenix), along with other notable riders.

Time trial world champion Chloe Dygert Owen (Twenty20) and junior world champion Megan Jastrab (Rally Cycling), Dutch champion Lorena Wiebes (Sunweb), American champion Ruth Winder (Trek-Segafredo), and stage 1 winner April Tacey (Drops) will also be on stage 3.

Sunday's fourth stage, with a tough climb the closer to the finish, will be a new test for TIBCO-Silicon Valley Bank's Lauren Stevens, who leads the women's Zwift world ranking. She will face stiff competition from Ashley Moolman-Pasio (CCC Team) and Lizzie Deignan (Trek-Segafredo), who is making her debut in this race.

The virtual Tour de France will be held as a team competition, with each rider earning points for their team ranking. The race will be broadcast live, and anyone can ride the course of this weekend's fourth stage on Zwift in one of 16 time slots.