Almost 9 million calories burned by Road ID Le Tour Challengers

Okay cycling girls, how cool and inspiring is this? Let us know if you have been taking part…

The Road ID Le Tour Challenge, powered by MapMyRide.com and VERSUS, has become the world’s first and largest virtual cycling event. The Challenge has offered more than 25,000 cyclists of all levels from 89 countries the opportunity to “virtually” compete with each other and alongside the pros in the 2009 Tour De France. After fifteen days of the Challenge, participating cyclists have ridden over 1.4 million miles, equivalent to circling the Earth 58.83 times, and climbed over 28 million feet, equivalent to climbing Mount Everest 965 times.

Participants have completed over 55,000 rides over the course of the Challenge. More than 1,300 of the cyclists have ridden in more than 10 stages and collectively burned almost 9 million calories.

Every day of the Tour de France, cyclists have been submitting their individual ride data to MapMyRide.com and, in return, have received their calculated “Virtual Stage Time” — the actual time they would have posted racing alongside the pros on that day. Participants who post the lowest Virtual Stage Time for each Stage win custom cycling jerseys and those riders who have compiled the most Virtual points at the close of each Stage are awarded a Virtual Tour leader yellow jersey.

“Prior to the Challenge, staying motivated to ride had been an issue for me as I’ve struggled with weight issues. The Challenge has helped me get off the couch, and now I’m riding every day, competing with other wannabe pros, and trying to collect more points each stage so that I can reach my goal of finishing in the top 100. That would be a podium finish for me!” said Challenge participant Chuck Morrow.

For more information on the Road ID Le Tour Challenge, please visit MapMyRide.com.