Virtual or indoor cycling as it is often referred to, is a growing market. One of the main players is TrainingPeaks Virtual, previously known as indieVelo.
About TrainingPeaks Virtual
TrainingPeaks Virtual is an indoor training platform owned by TrainingPeaks, an online app that enables athletes to plan, track, and analyse their training. It is ideal for anyone who wants to train and/or race with purpose.
TrainingPeaks Virtual was launched after TrainingPeaks acquired the virtual cycling software indieVelo. Like other indoor cycling platforms, such as Zwift, Rouvy or MyWhoosh, it allows athletes to ride indoors using smart trainers, power meters, heart-rate and cadence sensors to participate in structured workouts, group rides, and virtual races. TrainingPeaks Virtual naturally integrates seamlessly with the rest of the TrainingPeaks ecosystem (plans, workouts, data upload, metrics etc).
The main differences between TrainingPeaks Virtual and other indoor cycling platforms are:
- Credibility: TrainingPeaks Virtual has highly realistic ride dynamics that are tailored to making you a better athlete – for example, wind and corner braking mean that you train the same physiological responses on your body, and face the same tactical decisions about when to attack or sit-in, when racing, like when cycling outdoors. TrainingPeaks Virtual also has an extensive automated Performance Verification system, ensuring that riders who cheat while racing are immediately excluded, enabling everyone else to have a fair and enjoyable experience with results that can be trusted.
- AI Bots: TrainingPeaks Virtual uses over 10,000 unique AI Bots to help you train. Each has their own physiological model (weight, FTP, energy levels) and racing style (climbers, sprinters, etc) and you can choose to ride an event against a group of them at any time you want. TrainingPeaks Virtual will analyse your performance and then automatically select AI driven riders that push you to your limits and give you a hard, close race every time.
- GPX routes: TrainingPeaks Virtual enables you to upload any GPX route and ride it virtually. Anyone training for a real-world event, can prepare for it by riding the course whenever they want. The ability to test different pacing strategies, and build confidence by tackling the challenging parts of a course in a safe environment, transforming the unknown into a known, makes training more purposeful, engaging and effective.
When you combine the real-world routes with TrainingPeaks Virtual’s accurate physics and intelligent bots, you can create a near-perfect race simulation for training, or racing, that is unmatched anywhere else.
TrainingPeaks Virtual is included for free as part of a TrainingPeaks Premium subscription. It costs $11.25 / month (when billed annually). You get access to the whole of TrainingPeaks too.
Origins of TrainingPeaks Virtual
TrainingPeaks Virtual, originally called indieVelo, was developed by Dr George Gilbert. George built indieVelo from the ground up, single-handedly. In a recent interview, George explained that he effectively had two parallel careers – spending 25 years in the IT industry working for leading tech companies such as Microsoft, whilst simultaneously competing as an elite athlete in three different sports; cycling, running and rowing. As George recalled, “I decided to combine my two passions, IT and sport, to develop indieVelo.”
That journey however was not straightforward, and George had to overcome great personal adversity to achieve success. In his early 30s, he was diagnosed with a serious heart condition that resulted in him stopping his sporting endeavors immediately and undergoing lifesaving open-heart surgery. This came as a complete surprise to George, who only a few years earlier was competing internationally, including rowing for Cambridge University in one of the prestigious Oxford versus Cambridge Boat Races.
As George explained, the impact of this was significant: “I went from training 3–4 hours a day, to doing nothing, literally overnight. I deteriorated to the point that I couldn’t climb a flight of stairs without getting out of breath. I was given just two years to live. That however forced me to reinvent myself – because I got so much out of sport when I was younger as an athlete, I felt an overwhelming urge to put that back in. To give back, and help the next generation of athletes get as much out of sport as I did.”
As a result, George moved into the administrative side of sports, notably cycling. Here he undertook a wide variety of volunteer roles including organising races, commissairing and board governance. Starting at grassroots, he slowly worked his way up to running international events, being appointed by the UCI as chief commissaire at three World Championships and being elected Vice Chairman of the board of directors of British Cycling, overseeing the running of all cycle sport in the UK.
As the indoor cycling industry grew, with George’s background he was naturally at the forefront of providing consultation into how to improve credibility within this emerging sport. It rapidly became obvious though that the existing platforms were more interested in casual cyclists than athletes and the recommendations he and others were making to improve indoor training and racing for competitive cyclists weren’t being made.
Using his extensive education (George has four degrees from Cambridge University – a Bachelor of Arts in Natural Sciences, a Masters in Advanced Physics and Mathematics, a second Masters in Gravitational Astrophysics and Quantum Mechanics and a PhD in Astrophysics) coupled with his background in IT and sport, George felt that online cycling could be so much better than it was. As he noted: “Rather than complaining at the sidelines, I just went and built it.”
Thus indieVelo was born. Underpinning the development of indieVelo was, as George describes it, “a desire to have a credible online cycling ecosystem, one where athletes can train with purpose. An environment where the physiological demands of cycling are met – not those of a spin class. Where riders have got all the tools they need, where their training and workout is their focus. Where performance is the result of genuine athletic and tactical ability, and racing is credible and trusted.”
Merger with TrainingPeaks
In October 2024, it was announced that TrainingPeaks had acquired indieVelo, and it was to be rebranded as what we know it today – TrainingPeaks Virtual. George has continued in his role leading the development of the product, now as Vice President of TrainingPeaks.
IndieVelo’s evolution was inevitable, with George acknowledging that to take the product to the next level “I would need to join forces with someone else at some point. It was just a question of who and when.” He recalls that every company in the online cycling industry had approached him looking to buy indieVelo, but most were just interested in purchasing it to shut it down. His first meeting with TrainingPeaks however was completely different. “Their first question to me was, how can we help you go faster?” George recalls.
It was to be a perfect match, with TrainingPeaks and George having a shared understanding of the potential in the product and this new industry. It also was no coincidence that both TrainingPeaks and indieVelo’s values of helping athletes and coaches achieve their goals aligned. At its core, the history and values of indieVelo were retained, which is underpinned by an athlete-centric philosophy that involves listening to customer feedback, and acting on it quickly.
George explained that the heart of indieVelo, and now TrainingPeaks Virtual, is “community-led development. The product was, and continues to be, something built by the community, for the community. I might have done all the typing, but all the ideas about what cyclists, coaches and event organisers actually wanted were from suggestions by a group of people who shared that same vision about how much better the future of indoor cycling could be. TrainingPeaks Virtual doesn’t have a community, it is a community.”
How TrainingPeaks Virtual differs from other platforms
TrainingPeaks Virtual is fundamentally different from other online cycling products. While all the basics are the same as Zwift, Rouvy or MyWhoosh (using your trainer / powermeter to ride in a virtual world, complete workouts, compete in races / group rides, social chat), TrainingPeaks Virtual is tailored to the needs of riders looking to improve their athletic performance.
There are three distinct ways that are worth highlighting. These include credibility, the use of AI Bots to help improve training, as well as the ability to train and race on real-life courses by importing GPX files.
Credibility
First and foremost, TrainingPeaks Virtual aims to provide the most realistic indoor experience. Unlike many indoor platforms that can feel more like a stationary “spin class” where you simply turn the pedals and races are where those who output the most watts win; TrainingPeaks Virtual is designed to mimic the exact physiological demands of riding outdoors.
Great lengths have been put into developing a product that is a true physical simulation. A good example is with how wind resistance has been developed. This means it mirrors the same demands you would face in a real-life race, as George explained, “When you go behind another rider, it actually feels ‘lighter’ on your pedals exactly the same way that it does outside when drafting”. When racing, the wind also forces you to make tactical decisions in the same way that you do outside – when you go around the next corner, should you attack or sit in? What’s going to happen the corner after that? Using accurate physics also means that, just like real-life, break-aways regularly stick and you can’t just barge through other riders, so you also need to position yourself well within a peloton – if you’re at the back you’re going to miss the break and the win.
The purpose of TrainingPeaks Virtual is to ensure that the work you put in indoors translates directly to better performance on the road. As George summarised “If you want to become a better, faster cyclist, if you want to achieve your goals, then you use TrainingPeaks Virtual.”
AI Bots
The second way that TrainingPeaks Virtual differs from other platforms is with the use of AI Bots. It’s a known fact that some of the best quality training comes when there is an element of competition, and to ensure anyone can have this, at any time, TrainingPeaks Virtual has reimagined bots as sophisticated, AI-powered competitors.
While bots often have a poor reputation in the indoor cycling industry due to poor implementation on other platforms, this is not the case with TrainingPeaks Virtual. They are unique individuals with their own “personalities,” physical attributes, and racing philosophies. For example, some will attack you relentlessly, others will sit in and try to out jump you for the sprint, and in you’re in a break and not working with them, they’ll sit up rather than take you to the line. George explained, “They are tuned to you and your abilities. When you start a race, TrainingPeaks Virtual will automatically pick a set of bots to sit alongside you and give you a really great race. Every single time you line up on that start line, you are guaranteed a competitive event that will stretch you, both physically and tactically, and help you become a better rider.”
The bots represent a diverse peloton, each with their own unique heights, weights, Functional Threshold Powers (FTPs) and preferred tactics. This variety ensures that every race feels like a dynamic encounter with distinct rivals and uncertain outcomes rather than a repetitive simulation. Furthermore, racing a field of AI Bots eliminates the frustrations experienced racing in open multiplayer events – no more half-empty fields and no more steady pace for most of the race then a 5-minute sprint at the end!
This has resulted in, according to George, “many riders who prefer racing bots as part of their training program because it gives them a better workout”. TrainingPeaks Virtual’s AI Bots mean you are guaranteed a full field of competitive riders at any time of day, regardless of your schedule, which are designed to push you to your absolute limit, providing a high-quality practice race that genuinely prepares you for the rigors of the road.
GPX
One of the most transformative features of TrainingPeaks Virtual is the ability to upload any GPX file and instantly convert it into a rideable course. This means that if you have a favourite route, you enjoy cycling, but can’t get out due to bad weather, or simply it’s not geographically or logistically possible to visit a course in person, the platform auto-generates the road and surrounding landscape and enables you to ride the route from the comfort of your own home.
Apart from the nostalgia factor, there is a training benefit to this. If you have an upcoming competition on a real-life course and want to get an understanding and feel for the character of every climb and every turn, TrainingPeaks Virtual allows you to practice specific race simulations from anywhere in the world. This eliminates the logistical hurdles and high costs of traveling for course reconnaissance, turning a distant, “unknown” route into a familiar training ground.
From a coaching perspective, the GPX integration means that training can also be tailored to the needs of the athlete, moving beyond generic FTP-based intervals. Coaches can now prescribe hyper-personalized workouts that are truly race-specific based on the actual courses that their riders will face. Coupled with the advanced diagnostics seamlessly integrated with TrainingPeaks, TrainingPeaks Virtual provides invaluable information about how riders are likely to perform in real-world situations, and enables coaches to rapidly iterate on training programmes to help their riders perform at their best.
Looking ahead
As mentioned earlier, the development of TrainingPeaks Virtual is community led. The advantage of this is that the development of the product is always focused on the needs of its users. As a consequence, George explained that there is a relatively short development roadmap – “We’re building a product for committed athletes, coaches and event organisers. We don’t presume to know better than the experts here! We’ll listen, and understand what’s needed so that they can do what they do best. And then we’ll quickly and consistently iterate to build whatever that is.”
Beyond keeping improving the physics and simulation, TrainingPeaks Virtual is currently working on enhancing the graphics and visual appeal to create a more immersive “bigger world that feels full and alive”. A complete overhaul of the User Interface (UI) is also in the works helping to make it more intuitive for newcomers, while providing a more efficient way to manage their training and racing.
TrainingPeaks Virtual has just started to roll out their new “Free 4 All Racing” program – the ability for anyone to compete in a selection of featured high quality races on TrainingPeaks Virtual, for free. In George’s own words: “cycling eSports needs to be credible before it can properly grow, and we’re really keen to make that happen and support high quality events. With the most tactically interesting racing in the industry, backed up by the world’s leading Performance Verification and GPXplore custom routes, TrainingPeaks Virtual has now got all the infrastructure in place to offer everyone a realistic racing experience. By dropping all barriers to entry, and allowing anyone to compete in these events, for free, together we’re going to make a game changing difference to the credibility of eSports.”
How to join
TrainingPeaks Virtual is available on: Windows PC, Apple Mac, Android, iPad, iPhone and Apple TV.
Download TrainingPeaks Virtual from https://www.trainingpeaks.com/virtual
If you are a Premium subscriber of TrainingPeaks, you already have full access to TrainingPeaks Virtual. It is all completely free to use as part of your Premium subscription.
If you are not a Premium subscriber, there are multiple ways you can try it out for free before subscribing.
- 2-Week Free Trial: Every new TrainingPeaks account comes with a 14-day Premium trial, giving you full, unlimited access to the entire Virtual platform right out of the gate.
- Free 4 All Tuesdays: On the first Tuesday of every month, the platform is completely free for everyone.
- Free 4 All Racing: A curated selection of featured community races are freely open to all riders, ensuring you always have a competitive field to test your limits.
Summing up
In summary, TrainingPeaks Virtual offers something different in the indoor cycling market with a highly realistic training experience, innovative AI Bots for competitive engagement, and the ability to ride real-world courses through GPX integration, all while maintaining a community-driven development approach. As it continues to evolve, TrainingPeaks Virtual is working to foster a deeper connection to the sport, ensuring that users can achieve and exceed their cycling goals.
