Cycling: Gibbons and Tacey win opening stage of virtual Tour de France

LONDON: South African Ryan Gibbons won the first stage of the virtual Tour de France on Saturday, edging out the likes of Mathieu van der Poel and Greg Van Avermaet in the sprint finish.
The race, contested on the Zwift training platform, is filling the void left by the postponement of the actual Tour de France that will now start on Aug. 29.
The opening stage of the women's race, held on exactly the same computer-generated course, was won by 19-year-old British rider April Tacey of the Drops team.
Tacey beat a star-studded field that included American world time trial champion Chloe Dygert.
The first stage took in four laps of the 9.1km Watopia hilly reverse course, set on Zwift's own virtual volcanic island, totalling just over 36km.