Eleven Sports to air Digital Swiss 5 cycling series
April 17, 2020
Eleven Sports will broadcast The Digital Swiss 5 cycling series live to fans in Belgium, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal, Italy and Myanmar. The race has been created in response to the Covid-19 pandemic to keep fans engaged in elite cycling and give riders an opportunity to compete.
The Digital Swiss 5 will feature some of the best cyclists in the world. Sixteen of the nineteen World Tour teams will take part, including Team INEOS, Deceuninck – Quick-Step and Lotto Soudal. Two pro-continental teams and the Swiss national team are also set to compete.
The series, scheduled for April 22nd – 26th, is a collaboration between Velon and the organisers of the Tour de Suisse together with the ROUVY Indoor Cycling Reality platform. The races will take place with real video footage of the stunning roads used in the Tour de Suisse as the backdrop.
The riders, three per team, will be represented by avatars dressed in their team uniforms and riding their familiar team bikes. Each team’s line-up can change from race to race to reflect the different routes. Some will be in the Swiss mountains, others will be flat.
Danny Menken, Group MD, Eleven Sports said: “This exciting initiative will bring the competition of elite racing and some of the beauty of the Tour de Suisse to cycling fans around the world. At Eleven Sports we are embracing eSports to continue to offer our fans the excitement of live competition at this difficult time and this promises to be a strong addition to our offering.”
Graham Bartlett, CEO, Velon, added: “The teams and riders are delighted to partner with ELEVEN SPORTS so that The Digital Swiss 5 races can be seen in so many countries around the world. Everyone is looking forward to racing of a different kind but viewers can be certain that the riders won’t be holding anything back because every single one of them wants to win.”