Northern Hemisphere riders heading indoors for winter have a new, simple and free option. Tour du Pain is a browser-based virtual cycling world where riders can tackle a French lake loop and the Col du Pain climb alongside other riders, with built-in voice chat. There is nothing to install. Riders simply connect their smart trainer or Bluetooth power meter using Chrome or Edge on a computer or Android device. iPhones and iPads are not supported while the software remains in Beta.
For now, the platform features an 8.3-kilometre loop around a lake, through French lavender-covered fields and climb Col du Pain’s 8% gradient. Up to 50 riders can share the road and ride together. This makes the software ideal for club rides or friends wanting to ride together while chatting.
Unique to Tour du Pain is its built-in voice chat, allowing riders to talk with friends without needing a separate app or trying to text while riding.
Launched in October 2026, the platform includes the usual training metrics and is free through 2027, with all features included. Its creator, Wouter Hoonaker from the Netherlands, describes himself as a cycliste-triathlete-videographer rather than a game developer. Like many entrepreneurs, he built the platform to meet his own needs: a quick and simple way for friends to ride indoors while chatting.
In about one minute, I was able to set up Tour du Pain and start riding, sampling various workouts, ERG mode, peloton riding (Wouter says drafting physics are coming), a quick café stop and cruising alongside big-name motivational bots named Eddy Merckx, Tadej Pogačar and Mathieu van der Poel – all without incident. No more waiting minutes to start a ride, as can sometimes be the case with non-browser training apps like Zwift or MyWhoosh.
As someone who has logged tens of thousands of real-world winter miles, I know that early springtime results are best earned by pedalling and chatting with motivated friends and teammates during the off-season. Now, that is possible in the safe, warm confines of my garage using a simple browser-based app available to everyone.
Tour du Pain virtual cycling app and demo HERE
Tour du Pain development discussion HERE
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