One special thing about the Zwift platform is that it allows people from diverse backgrounds and geographical locations to come together to participate in sport on an equal footing. This is no better embodied than with Cycling Canada’s 2022 Esports World Championship Team.
I have been fortunate to speak to the entire team to discuss their pursuit of victory in the upcoming UCI Esports World Championship hosted on Zwift on 26th February.
It’s worth mentioning that the interview was unique and a privilege because everyone made themselves available during their busy working days. In Esta Bovill’s case, she is a Plastic and Reconstructive surgeon based in North Vancouver, British Columbia, and was soon to be going into theatre when we spoke! This is a prime example of the diversity of the team.
The Team
Both teams consist of 5 riders. Unlike other international federations, Cycling Canada released their list of riders early (January 2022), well in advance of the Championships.
The Women’s team is well-rounded and has a blend of Esports specialists including as Esta Bovill and Monilee Keller (who is also an accomplished triathlete). There are athletes that have previously competed on the international stage such as para-cycling pilot and Parapan American Games medalist Evelyne Gagnon, Masters Canadian Road Champion Josée Rossignol, and Adèle Normand, who rides for Emotional.fr Tornatech – GSC Blagnac (ETB)
Similar to the women’s team, the men’s has a range of riders which include Léandre Bouchard (2016 Olympian and current Canadian Mountain Bike champion), road cyclists Oliver Dowd and Kris Yip, mountain biker Noah Ramsay, and Esports athlete Thomas Thrall.
Leading the team in the Directeur sportif role is Tristen Chernove, a four-time Paralympic medalist and 11x World Champion on road and track. Tristen came to cycling after a successful career in paddle sport (pre neurological impairment) and is based in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. He recently retired from cycling and has a solid understanding of the mechanics of the Zwift platform, being a user since the beta days.
Proving the team is genuinely diverse, the athletes representing Canada range in geographical location, age, profession, and background. For example, Adèle joined the interview from Spain’s cycling hotbed of Girona and is the youngest member of the team aged 20, while Noah Ramsay was calling from Toronto. Esta Bovill is a former Brit but now a naturalized Canadian of 9 years, and spoke to me from her work in a hospital in Vancouver, whilst Monilee, an IT Professional originally from Nova Scotia working for Microsoft, was calling from Seattle, USA, and at 45 years old is the oldest member of the team. Monilee commented that as a working professional who can not travel due to her commitments, with 3 young children aged between 5 and 11, “this is an amazing opportunity that wouldn’t normally be possible.”
Interestingly, both Esta and Monilee really focused on Zwift during the global pandemic with Esta explaining “this was a project and I came late into the sport and age has not been a barrier.”
The age factor is a common theme with Tristen explaining that as a para-cyclist, they tend to peak later in life and he now is a better athlete, despite being older, because he is able to better balance life and believes “age is not a disadvantage.”
Thoughts on the Event
Noah is “looking forward to the race but is a bit nervous.” No stranger to large-scale international events, Evelyne stated that she is “excited about the race.” Oliver, meanwhile is happy to “get the jersey unlock as there are few opportunities.” (The jersey unlock that Oliver is referencing is the coveted National Team jersey that he will be able to wear in Zwift.) Adèle is equally looking forward to competing, viewing it as a “good gauge” to compare herself to other athletes, noting that half of the Women’s field consists of riders from the World Tour.
The overall team vibe was one of positivity, mixed with nerves and a dash of pragmatism regarding the task at hand.
Qualification
Cycling’s governing body, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), gave Canada 4 slots for the men and 4 slots for the women, based on their qualification system for the event.
Cycling Canada, who host regular events on Zwift, and whose use of the platform is integral to developing the sport within Canada, used their regular events as qualification for the World Championship Team. From these events, all 8 slots were filled.
However, Canada gained an additional 2 team places via the Continental Qualifier, with Monilee Keller and Thomas Thrall demonstrating their Zwifting skills to secure these coveted places. Despite qualifying through the competitive Continental Qualifying route Thomas explained that “I appreciated the multiple avenues to qualify.”
The fair and transparent process for qualification that was adopted has been well-liked by the athletes, with the lesson learned for next year that it would be advantageous to host the qualification event on an exact replica of the World Championship course . As Esta noted, to succeed you had to demonstrate “Zwift craft as well as being an excellent racer.” The “Zwift craft” which Esta commented was in reference to the use of PowerUps, which is a debated topic. Speaking of which…
PowerUps
One of the repeating topics in my interviews with Worlds riders is the use of PowerUps. These give a small bonus to your performance when deployed, in theory giving you a tactical advantage during the race. They are awarded when you go under a course arch and are usually randomly generated, however in the World Championships, the randomness of what each rider gets is removed, with everyone getting the same items at each banner. One point which Thomas noted was that “It’s good that there is a level playing field with everyone getting the same, but what is the point if everyone is going into the final climb with a feather?”
Interestingly, it’s Directeur sportif Tristen who is relishing their use and has the challenge to bring order to the PowerUp chaos, whilst Esta has accepted that “it’s an important feature.”
Zwift have explained that “We have regularly surveyed Elite fields, including both esports racers and world tour riders. While not all like PowerUps, the majority are in favour. Actually knowing where the PowerUps will appear will help riders and teams pre-plan strategies based on these locations. Holding PowerUps and deploying them when most people will likely have another can make for unpredictable racing. For example, using an Aero PowerUp to launch an attack when you know the majority of racers will actually have the Feather.”
Whilst this topic is entirely a matter of opinion, regardless of the pros and cons of the use of PowerUps Esports is evolving and this one area appears to be hotly contested amongst both fans and riders.
The Course
As well as the use challenge of when to use PowerUps, the undulating nature of the course is going to significantly impact the race, which is 54.9km in length and includes 944m of climbing, on Zwift’s New York Knickerbocker course, which is 2.5 laps and finishes on the NYC KOM Forward.
The undulating course is well suited to those who can undertake repeated bursts of speed and recover. Noah noted that his mountain biking background, which involves a lot of 1–2-minute power bursts, will “help on the course.” This was echoed by Evelyne, who noted there were many sections that required strong 3-minute efforts and it was important to “watch out for the kickers”.
Tristen noted that with the team’s diversity, there are many opportunities to get a good result depending on how the race unfolds. He thinks the first climb will be decisive. I concur with him, having raced the course myself! If you are not in the front group as you hit the summit, the speed carried by the group on the descent will mean that the race is over for some before it gets going.
Fair Play and Technical Challenges
To ensure that everyone is operating on an equal playing field, Zwift in partnership with Wahoo has shipped every participant (200 riders) a Wahoo KICKR V5 smart trainer to use.
Esta mentioned that she uses a Saris smart trainer and her new KICKR5 VR has not worked, creating this additional level of anxiety around the event but fortunately, her replacement trainer was due to arrive that day and she was looking forward to trying it. Thomas commented that he was concerned about the KICKR’s autocalibration. This is an interesting point because it shows how in-tune racers are with their own turbo trainer and how using one they are not accustomed to adds an additional dynamic to the event.
Yet another dynamic was highlighted by Esta, who explained there was a requirement to have the trainer set to 100% difficulty and that “you need a few rides to get used to it.”
There are further checks to ensure fair play with Zwift explaining that “every rider on the start list will still be part of a UCI anti-doping pool and subject to no notice anti-doping testing, but there is flexibility this time round as the UCI have agreed a new and innovative approach with the ITA, with the aim of making the event more accessible to top esports riders.”
To ensure that they would not be hampered by any technical issues and thus impact their performance, Evelyne has upgraded her internet service provider, paying for maximum bandwidth. And Adèle even temporarily relocating her Zwift setup to ensure she is not hampered by any power cuts that frequent the old part of her village! As she said, “I am moving to another location to stop the stress of tech problems.”
Summing Up
It was a privilege and fun to interview the team, and it was fascinating to see the dynamic that has quickly formed. Having now met and spoken to the riders, I will be watching closely to see how they progress. It seems fitting that the final word should be left to the Team’s Directeur sportif Tristen, who emphasised that “Zwift is doing a fantastic job of bringing athletes from a broad range of sport backgrounds together in a safe competitive environment.”
The UCI Cycling Esports World Championships will be broadcast live across Eurosport, discovery+, GCN+ and Zwift’s YouTube channel on Saturday 26th February 2022.
wpDiscuz
