The first-ever UCI Cycling Esports World Championships happened yesterday on Zwift. Here’s our summary of the men’s race, with the women’s writeup coming next!
The Start
The start of the race wasn’t on the live broadcast, so most viewers joined the racers 23km into the 50km route. But there was early action in those initial kilometers! Ryan Larson (Team USA) said “The first quarter of the race was all out while Belgium pushed the pace, which split the group on the first reverse KOM.”
While that push certainly hurt, it wasn’t enough to to force a big break. Lionel Vujasin (Belgium) said, “…with the Belgian team we tried at some points to make it hard but it wasn’t enough to make a selection.”
In many hilly Zwift races you will see the field cut in half within the first few minutes, then reduced by another 50% halfway through the race. But this race had a startlingly low rate of attrition, with ~50 riders still in the front pack from the initial starting list of 64 by the time we hit 23km.
Modified Draft, or Pros Being Pros?
The low attrition rate is a testament to the high level of athleticism and preparation by the riders. And this shouldn’t be surprising – these were the best Zwift racers in the world, in theory!
The low attrition rate may also be partially due to what some racers believe were modified draft mechanics for the event. Ollie Jones (New Zealand) said, “I remember when it went from single draft to double draft and today felt like the same again. Where the bunch would usually string out and snap, it was strung out out and pulling back just as fast. I think this was a massive advantage to the road riders since it removed a lot of the more technical aspects of the bunch dynamic.”
“It was the same for vTDF… and that pro qualification race that finished up Alpe du Zwift. They will never say which draft they use or if it’s different, but us experienced racers can feel it. It’s not single or double draft – it’s something else. It just feels like there’s an elastic band around the blob… but today there was 3 of them.”
When I asked other racers about the modified draft, they said it definitely felt easier hanging with the pack of the flat sections of the course – but they weren’t sure if this was because the experienced peloton was saving their legs for the key attack points, or because the draft mechanics had been changed.
Canada Attacks
Jordan Cheyne (Canada) and his team had already put in a hard push up the reverse KOM with 13-14km to go, but it had the same effect as Belgium’s first attack on this climb, stringing out the pack without forcing a selection.
Then with just 4km to go Cheyne as well as Canada’s Lionel Sanders and Charles-Etienne Chrétien jumped away from the sizeable group on the ramp into the Esses. They managed a gap of a few seconds through the Esses, but weren’t able to work together to stay away, getting caught before the downtown start/finish banner. It would all come down to the final all-out slugfest up Watopia’s Hilly KOM!
The Finish
The first 49km were simply a crucible which racers had to endure in order to arrive at the final challenge – a ~60 second effort up Watopia’s Hilly KOM. Two-thirds of the starters made it to this final point, but only one could come out on top.
Belgium’s Victor Campenaerts was first into the climb, joining many other riders in activating a feather powerup for the steepest section of the climb. Lionel Sanders took the early lead momentarily as well, but there were still 60 seconds of all-out effort to go.
Germany’s Jonas Rapp and Jason Osborne moved to the front before the climb’s halfway mark, putting in a massive 9-10w/kg attack to gap the pack. Rapp led through the halfway turn, then Osborne slingshotted around Rapp, hitting 12+ w/kg and distancing every other rider as he activated a perfectly-timed aero powerup just before the road leveled out.
Osborne crossed the line well ahead of 2nd place Anders Foldager (Denmark) and Nicklas Pedersen (Denmark).
I knew my form was quite good and I had prepared well. I have a good one minute power, which can be important on that course. My main focus was to keep calm, swim with the pack and conserve all the energy for the last 80 seconds.
Jason Osborne, Germany
Quotes from Top Finishers
I had a good feeling and believed in the victory from start to finish. I got a little too far ahead as the field stalled over the top. So I had to hold back a bit before opening a long sprint from behind in the group. Nicklas Pedersen and I each timed our sprint perfectly, unfortunately there was only one who got us in advance. It was a great experience and to be No. 2 for the Elite World Championship as first-year U23 is something I can be proud of.
Anders Foldager, Denmark
It was an amazing experience to do the first ever esports cycling World Championships. The Danish federation did a great job choosing three dedicated Zwifters supported by WorldTour rider Michael Valgren. We did the race together in Copenhagen with the opportunity to analyze the course and discuss tactics. We did the race perfect with Muff and Valgren closing breakaways. Foldager and I saved the legs, as much as possible, for the final KOM and both did a perfect sprint, but only enough to become second and third. We had some dropouts during the race and Foldager had a terrible dropout with 400 meter to the finish and went back in the group. He managed to do an incredible sprint and take second place. We were dreaming about the rainbow jersey, but we are really happy with the second and third place in our first World Championships. Congratulations Jason Osborne!
Nicklas Pedersen, Denmark
I felt really good on the last climb. I may have been a couple of wheels too far back at 500m to go because I missed the moment Osborne went. I had decided to ride the draft for longer than I was planning pre race since it felt so high today. I opened up my sprint at the 200m mark but had a full trainer blow out – it still won’t turn on, so my last 50m or so was all on momentum. Happy to have a 4th place at a UCI World Championship event but also rueing what might have been.
Ollie Jones, New Zealand
With 800 meters to go I was 5th wheel which is where I wanted to be and I pushed to catch the draft of the two Germans in the front. With 200 meters to go I was all in and it was good enough to land be in the top 10. It was an awesome race and my USA teammates did amazing.
Ryan Larson, USA
I was well placed at 500m but I couldn’t have my usual 2nd kick to make a difference in the last 200m…
Lionel Vujasin
Mechanicals
Not unlike an outdoor race, several riders suffered mechanicals of various sorts which took them out of contention.
Ollie Jones thought he had completely fried his Tacx NEO 2T in the final sprint (see his quote above), but reported later that he thinks it overheated, as it eventually turned on and was functional after cooling down for a bit. He sent over this post-race pic with the offending NEO…
Samuel Brännlund (Sweden) shared that some sort of connection issue with the Internet and/or Zwift popped up and got him dropped, and Cory Williams (USA) was dropped several kilometers from the finish with what appeared to be a power dropout.
Final Results
Looking at the final results (below), this race clearly answered the question of who would perform better – experienced Zwift riders, or top WorldTour pros?
Every rider in the top 10 is an experienced Zwifter, and 7 of the top 10 are very experienced top Zwift racers. Yes, nearly all ride for pro teams outdoors – but none of them ride on WorldTour teams.
The biggest surprise in the top 10 is the race winner, actually. Congrats to Jason Osborne for surprising is all by taking the win nobody expected, and doing it in commanding fashion… with amazing hair.
Osborne only shows 9 races in ZwiftPower, but he’s a level 37 Zwifter, so he’s put in plenty of time on the platform. Like many strong racers on Zwift he comes from a rowing background, having won medals in a number of competitions in the World Rowing Cup and European Championships.
Final Thoughts
Countries will certainly be taking notes on how this first Esports Worlds transpired. The UCI left it up to each country to determine how they would pick their team, and it’s evident that some countries took this more seriously than others.
Great Britain was famously lambasted in Zwift forums for ignoring top Zwift community racers and instead going with established outdoor pros for their team. Was that the best choice, in hindsight? Certainly not. Their best result was 28th place, which is far from impressive given the kind of Zwift racing talent we see coming from Great Britain.
But it’s early days. Everyone involved (including Zwift) has much to learn and improve upon for future events. And there’s nothing wrong with that.
Holden Comeau (USA) shared some thoughts which wrap up this post fittingly:
“What an amazing experience that was to be a part of such a historic race. As a community, I hope we can all look back on this moment as a real turning point for our sport. So many passionate people have invested so much over the past few years in laying down the foundation of what cycling esports is bound to become. For me, today’s race was a monumental success and a tribute to all that hard work. Our sport has a world champion now. We have a growing professional athlete population. A booming business infrastructure. A passionate fan base. I can’t imagine anything will slow down in 2021 and I’m blessed to be a part of it.”
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