In August 2023, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) announced that it awarded the UCI Cycling Esports World Championships in 2024, 2025 and 2026 to MyWhoosh, a free-to-use virtual cycling app.
The 2024 Cycling Esports World Championships will be the fourth edition of the event, with the previous three, being hosted on Zwift.
To find out more about the upcoming event, I had an exclusive interview with MyWhoosh’s Race Manager, Matt Smithson who has been busy creating the event, which is going to be hosted in October, with the world’s top 20 male and female cyclists competing shoulder-to-shoulder, in a live final, taking place in Abu Dhabi, UAE.
New format
The event will be different to that of its predecessors, which have kept to the familiar format of the winner being the first person over the finish line, however, MyWhoosh are going to be doing something quite different. The race will be based on a points system and the outcome won’t be fully known until the last rider crosses the finish line, creating an unprecedented level of suspense. As Race Manager, Matt Smithson noted “This is a very different event to what has come before and anyone should be capable of winning.”
Size of the field
The 22 Cycling Federations have been invited to participate and the field will total 300 riders, split evenly between men and women. The Federations will select their riders but there is the opportunity for 60 people from the MyWhoosh community to win a place in the event, this will be split 30 for men and 30 for women and they will then join up with their respective Federations and represent their country in the event.
Specific circuits
MyWhoosh have been busy developing a new world for the event and Matt explained “We have built a specific world and developed new routes, which have never been used before. We worked the with world’s leading coaches to build courses that would really test the athletes.” Matt went on to elaborate that the courses have been designed to test their different attributes, ensuring the winner will be the best all-round rider who is both physically strong and tactically astute.
Race format
The event will consist of a qualifying round and the final, with the final being hosted in Abu Dhabi, where riders will race together, side-by-side.
All riders will compete in the qualifying round, which is referred to as the “semi-final” and consists of two stages. Only the top 40 riders (20 men and 20 women) will qualify for the final.
The format of the race will be different to that which have come before and a points system will be used because as Matt explained “A points system will be more exciting.”
Points will be awarded for different things, such as being quickest on a segment, first on a lap, or first up a climb. In the semi-final, the top 20 male and female riders, which are those with the most points, will qualify for the final.
In the final, which has three stages, all riders will start with zero points and the World Champion will be the person with the most accumulated points from the three stages. It is planned that each stage will last between 15 to 25 minutes.
The semi-final
The qualifying round, or semi-final as it is called, will consist of two stages.
The first stage, is a 9km circuit, which has a climb, 4-minutes in length. The points that are available are at the base of the climb, at the top of the climb and at the finish, so strategy is fundamental to success.
Stage two involves 4 laps on a 4km criterium circuit. Points will be available for the first person across the line after each lap, with double points available on the final lap.
The riders who finish in the top 20, once all their points are accumulated, will proceed to the final.
The final
This will be a three-stage race. Stage one, will be a sprint stage and invokes memories of Formula 1 style qualification as riders will have 15-minutes to set the fastest time on a defined 300-meter segment, on a 1.7km circuit. The fastest rider will score the maximum points and points will cascade down, according to your position.
Stage two and stage three are identical to the those of the semi-final, meaning that with the points system in play, you won’t know who is the winner until all the results are tallied together, as Matt explained “Anyone can win.”
Verification and hardware
The World Championships on MyWhoosh require all athletes to pass MyWhoosh’s independent verification process and to possess a MyWhoosh Power Passport.
It’s important to have a Power Passport because it’s a personalised performance indicator and central to MyWhoosh’s verification process.
Your Power Passport can only be obtained by undertaking a dynamic assessment that surpasses traditional testing and is divided into different challenges, allowing MyWhoosh to verify your race results are within acceptable limits, based on your physiological performance.
The finalists will all be racing with the same smart trainer to ensure that the competition is fair and the playing field is as even as possible. MyWhoosh has partnered with Elite, who will be supplying their premium trainer, the Justo, pronounced “joosto”, to everyone. This is one of the best trainers on the market at the moment, with its power meter accuracy being within 1%.
For the semi-finals, riders will use their own smart trainers, which must meet the requirements.
Summing up
The key points are as follows:
- 300 athletes from 22 Federations will compete in a points-based event.
- Points are awarded by various, defined means, such as being fastest on a segment.
- The top 20 riders who have accumulated the most points will go to the final.
- Abu Dhabi will host the live final, in October.
- The final will feature 20 athletes competing side-by-side, tackling three consecutive stages.
- The person with the most accumulated points is the winner.
About MyWhoosh
Founded in 2019 by Akhtar Saeed Hashmi in Abu Dhabi, UAE, MyWhoosh is a free-to-use virtual cycling app. Designed by professionals and available to all riders, MyWhoosh aims to push riders to their limits through immersive, personalised and challenging indoor cycling experiences.
For more information visit www.mywhoosh.com.
