Women's WorldTour team Canyon-SRAM has hailed the inaugural Virtual Tour de France as a major boost for women's cycling. The race, announced Monday, will take place during July and consist of six stages lasting around one hour.

Professional teams of men (23) and women (17) will participate, with each team sending four riders to each stage of the race, which will take place on the Zwift platform Zwift Academy winners Ella Harris and Tanya Ellas will be an integral part of the Canyon-SRAM team Ella Harris and Tanya Ellas will participate in the race as key members of the Canyon-SRAM team.

"The Virtual Tour de France is really exciting because it will allow women, for the first time, to compete under the prestigious "Tour de France" flag, with all aspects of the event being equal.

"I believe it represents a revolutionary next step in the future of the sport and will allow the old barriers between men and women to be broken down, albeit virtually... Zwift is helping to spearhead this opportunity by utilizing their platform to provide this opportunity. I think it's very cool that they are doing this."

Virtual cycling has been booming in popularity since the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic shut down sporting events around the world, including the cycling season. Numerous online races have attracted cycling's top riders, including virtual versions of the Tour of Flanders, Milan-San Remo, Tour de Suisse, and Tour of the Gila.

Zwift also hosts a number of events, including the Tour de Zwift stage race and the Team Ineos intra-team eRace. Harris said that hosting a virtual Tour de France on Zwift will only encourage participation in the sport

." The professional race in cycling that you don't have to be a cyclist in the world to know is the Tour de France, and displaying the event on an accessible stage like Zwift can only be beneficial to encourage participation in the sport and garner further support."

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Tiffany Cromwell said the race, which will be broadcast on 10 television networks in 130 countries, is a welcome addition to the virtual calendar at a time when live sports are severely limited due to COVID-19.

"I think it's another great opportunity for women's cycling to have a great platform to work on," she said.

"With the limited number of sports currently being broadcast live on television, people are excited to have something to watch both in real and virtual life. Having a virtual women's race under the Tour de France banner is exciting and will bring even more awareness to the public.

"The opportunity to have a global platform is really important for the teams and our partners. Teams will go into the race aggressive, with the goal of putting on a strong performance and hopefully winning"

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The team will be aiming for overall victory in a race that includes stages of Virtual Nice, Mont Ventoux, and the Champs-Elysées.

"If we want to improve our performance, which should always be our goal, we will have to aim for the yellow jersey," said Erath.

"The opportunity to have a global platform is really important for the team and our partners, so it's a great opportunity to showcase them," Cromwell added.

"The team will go in with the goal of putting on an aggressive race, putting on a strong performance, and scoring some wins."