2025 UCI Cycling Esports World Championships

The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), cycling’s governing body, sanctioned the first Cycling Esports World Championships in 2020. The first edition included some of the sport’s biggest names from across 22 countries. Star riders from the women’s field included Elinor Barker, Sarah Storey, Anna van der Breggen, and Annika Langvad, whilst the men’s field included stars such as Ed Clancy, Esteban Chaves, Rigoberto Uran, Lionel Sanders, and Luis Leon Sanchez.

Cycling Esports has significantly grown in all aspects since the first edition of the event, whether it is performance verification, reporting system, points system or esports protocols. The sport has come a long way for the good, in order to ensure a fair competition for all athletes.

Event Evolution

2020 Edition: The first edition was contested on a 50 km course, where Jason Osborne from Germany and Ashleigh Moolman Pasio from South Africa were crowned the first Esports World Champions, completing the testing course that involved a 5.5% climb to the finish, in 1h 05′ 15” and 1h 13′ 27” respectively. 

2022 Edition: Following the inaugural UCI Cycling Esports World Championships that were held in December 2020, it was decided to shift the event to the month of February, resulting in the postponement of the 2021 edition to 2022. This time, members of the cycling community received an opportunity to compete and win a spot with their National Federation via a series of qualifying events, followed by final competition. The men’s race was won by Jay Vine, and the women’s race was won by Loes Adegeest.

2023 Edition: The 2023 UCI Esports Cycling World Championships third edition was held in February, on a specifically designed Scotland-inspired course, mirroring the UCI Cycling World Championship festival, taking place later in the year in Scotland. Loes Adegeest successfully defended her 2022 crown by outsprinting her rivals, while the men’s race was won by Bjørn Andreassen.

2024 Edition: The 2024 UCI Cycling Esports World Championships concluded with Mary Kate McCarthy and Jason Osborne emerging as the Women’s and Men’s World Champions, respectively, showcasing their exceptional skills and strategic prowess across three challenging stages hosted live in Abu Dhabi. This event marked a historic moment as it was the first time the finals were held in person, further elevating the competitive atmosphere of the championships.

The live grand finale, in front of a live audience that included former UCI Road Race World Champion Peter Sagan and current World Champion Tadej Pogacar.

MyWhoosh and 2025 UCI Cycling Esports World Championships

MyWhoosh is all set to once again host the 5^th edition of the UCI Cycling Esports World Championships. The grand final is set to take place on 15 November at the Space 42 Arena in Abu Dhabi.

This year’s event will have a unique grading system with points rewarded to the first riders to cross each segment line – this also marks a shift from the time-based scoring system used in the previous edition.

Qualification Pathways

There will be approximately 30 Cycling Federations competing for the honour of having one of their riders crowned Cycling Esports World Champion. In total, there will be 300 riders, evenly split between men and women competing. Seventy per cent of the places available for the semi-finals will be allocated through qualifiers organised by the National Federations, which will designate their respective representatives. The remaining 30% will be allocated through public qualifying events organised by MyWhoosh.

The 40 finalists (20 men and 20 women) will be decided during semi-finals which will feature up t0 150 male and 150 female athletes from around the world competing virtually for the right to participate in the Grand Final in Abu Dhabi.

Race Format

This edition of the UCI Cycling Esports World Championships will be a point-based system for both the semi-final and final race.

Stage 1: The Sprinter’s Paradise

This will be contested over eight laps of a 1.5 km circuit. At the end of each lap, points will be awarded based on the results of the sprints. Designed for explosive riders, this race will see tension rise with each lap and will culminate in a final sprint allowing the best riders to earn more points than in the previous sprints. For each of the first seven laps, points will be awarded to the first 20 riders to cross the finish line, 20 points for the first placed rider, and 1 point for the twentieth placed rider. The final lap (Lap 8) will carry the most weight, with points awarded to the top 20 riders crossing the finish line, but with a higher value.

Stage 2: Punchers’ Playground

This will be contested over a 12 km course dotted with short, steep climbs and sprint segments, designed for riders who excel at repeated explosive efforts. With two intermediate sprint zones and two-timed climbs (KOM), it will reward both strategic positioning and raw power. The final sprint to the finish line will offer the most points and play a pivotal role in shaping the overall standing.

Stage 3: Last Rider Standing

This will be a spectacular elimination ace contested on an 8.2km climb with an elevation gain of 554 meters. The peloton will shrink, and the tension will rise as riders cross each checkpoint. Riders will earn points based on their placement and survival time.

All riders will begin the race simultaneously, receiving a two-minute head start over the Pacemaker, also known as the Chaser. The Chaser, designed to simulate a real rider with consistent power output, will start exactly two minutes after the main group.

The central dynamic of the race revolves around the pursuit – riders must stay ahead of the Chaser for as long as possible. Any rider overtaken by the Chaser at any point on the course is immediately eliminated from the race.

The competition follows a “Last Rider Standing” format, where the ultimate goal is to be the final rider not caught by the Chaser. The points are awarded based on how long each rider stays ahead of the Chaser, with one point granted for every five seconds from the start of the stage that a rider maintains their lead.

In the semi-finals, cumulative points earned by riders across the three stages will determine the 20 best athletes in each category who will qualify for the UCI Cycling Esports World Championships Final in Abu Dhabi. The finalists will be joined by athletes who have obtained a wild card.

The principle for the final will be the same: the points accumulated during all three stages will determine the 2025 UCI Cycling Esports World Championships.

Verification

All athletes competing in the World Championships on MyWhoosh must undergo MyWhoosh’s independent verification process and have a MyWhoosh Power Passport. This Power Passport test is available in the MyWhoosh workouts section and takes approximately 60 minutes to complete. The test will be validated by the MyWhoosh team before being accepted as a verified test.

The Power Passport is a personalised performance indicator and central to MyWhoosh’s verification process and consequently, having a Power Passport is a mandatory requirement to enter any competitive racing event on the platform, include the UCI Cycling Esports World Championships.

To obtain a Power Passport, riders must undertake a dynamic assessment that surpasses traditional testing and is divided into different challenges, allowing MyWhoosh to validate race results are within acceptable parameters, based on physiological performances.

For More Information on 2025 UCI Cycling Esports World Championships, check out the techical guide below: