After the closure of the group's two cycling team is the tour for Bjarne Riis and his associate in the Virtu Cycling Group has now come to give up the dream of creating a virtual træningsplatform, which could take up the fight with the giant Zwift.
Softwareprojektet Virtu Go crawl in these weeks of a so-called controlled shutdown, which means that they are about 14.000 users, who have subscribed, only can use the platform until 25. november.
Then closed the platform for private use and all the effort put in now to get the expensive software and the extensive amount of data, which operates the plant, was sold to another company who can see the opportunities in the software and have the means to develop it further.
Anders Gram Simonsen and Bjarne Riis at the Danish championship in road cycling in June of this year. Photo: Ernst van Norde.
- We have not experienced the influx of customers, as we had expected, and as we believe, we should have, says Anders Gram Simonsen, who is the director of both the Virtu Go and Virtu Cycling Group.
- It means that we are looking at other options. Although we continue each month to invest a substantial amount of money, we will not get more into the market, but rather continue to move us more and more away from the market.
the Problem for Virtu Go is that the market for indendørstræning is dominated by a very large and significant player who has huge financial muscles, namely Zwift.
Training indoor:
the Training will take place on an advanced exercise bike or a racing bike mounted on a stand with magnetically controlled rear wheel.
the Bike connects to a screen - computer, tablet or mobile phone on which the rider can then follow a route and see and run with other joggers, which is located somewhere in the world.
The routes, you can choose to drive, moving true-to-life through different terrain, which is reflected in the load, the software by means of the magnetism put on the pedals.
A mountainous route will require a hard wire of the rider, while a flat route makes the trip more affordable.
Over half a million users is tillmeldt Zwift, which has recently gained an important seal of approval, through collaboration with the international cykleunion, the UCI. The platform offers its users a far fledged virtual world, where you can compare with users from all over the world at all times of the day.
An equally extensive universe Virtu Go not managed to build, notes the blogger DC Rainmaker. He states that there have been so few active users of Virtu Go, that one rarely caught wind of the social community, as these virtual platforms greatly live by.
Virtu Go has spent large sums to develop its software, but even though the platform is now shut down, the money is not lost, says Anders Gram Simonsen.
At the WORLD cup in Yorkshire in september announced the UCI-president David Lappartient a close cooperation with Zwift, which should result in an official WORLD championship in the indoor training. Photo: Tariq Mikkel Khan.
- We have taken a responsible and correct decision. It costs money to develop software, but we are faced not with a product, there is zero dollars worth. We certainly do not, says Anders Gram Simonsen, who believe that Virtu-Go platform can be sold.
- There are other pretty interesting opportunities for us, says Virtu-executive director, who does not want to go into details at the present time.
Virtu Go ApS is owned by the swiss holding company, Virtu Holding AG, Seier Capital International AG, and Michael Rogers, a former plural world champion in the time trial.
the ownership group of the Virtu Holding AG consists of Bjarne Riis and Lars Seier Christensen, who each own a third, and the couple Jan and Helle Bech Andersen, who owns the last third.
Michael Rogers has been at the forefront of the extensive development work in the Virtu Go ApS, which, according to the latest two accounts has given the operating losses of up to ten million crowns.
See also: Lose 150,000 Danish kroner: Riis take important decision
See also: Reveals in new book: Threatened to destroy the Riis' team
See also: suspected: - Difficult to feel the pride
See also: Suddenly had Danish Mathias a superstar in the pipe
See also: Put down the cycling world down: - I'm just outside the filter
