Thomas de Gendt got a nasty surprise this week when his avatar slowed to a snail's pace despite pedaling at full throttle, clocking 550 watts in a Zwift race.

Online cycling platforms suspected cheating and removed him from the race.

"You missed your professional vocation or there is something wrong with one of your devices," a message appeared on de Gendt's screen.

De Gendt told Zwift on social media: "I was thrown out of the race because of my superhuman power. Can you fix my stats?

Zwift relies on people honestly declaring their weight, as speed is judged by power-to-weight ratios. To prevent fraud, limits are set for what is considered realistic power output, and de Gendt's numbers were clearly a red herring.

De Gendt later explained that Lot Soudal was teaching his teammate Tim Wellens how to use Zwift in order to compete in online races.

"On the climb, I just did the numbers that I more or less push in the race. Suddenly, the game blocked and neutralized me," he told Het Nieuwsblad.

"You pedal as hard as you can, but it's still set to low speed. That's a bit disappointing during a race."

"The numbers weren't that special. 500-550 watts for a while. That might be unrealistically high for a cycling traveler, but it's more or less normal if you want to win races professionally."

De Gendt called on social media to relax Zwift's restrictions. During the coronavirus outbreak, many professionals will be using Zwift and other online platforms, so they may have no other choice.

"On Zwift, of course, it's just a game, but I have the logo of being a pro behind my name.

"Zwift races are perfect training for me. Training on the outdoor blocks is a bit more difficult here because of all the flat roads. On the roller stand I can run short races, which is great for running 17km at full acceleration."