The MyWhoosh Championship Series beginning on April 28, 2023, boasts the biggest prize purse in cycling esports history and moves toward securing a living wage for the sport's elite.
At their core, competitive cyclists have simple needs. Provide them with a fun, safe, and stable racing environment on a level playing field with consistent competition, and, for the most part, they’re pretty satisfied. For the burgeoning subset of racers who’ve found a virtual niche to scratch their competitive itch, it’s no different.
The up-and-coming newcomer to the virtual cycling game, MyWhoosh, prioritizes promoting and legitimizing high-level esports racing. MyWhoosh claims to check all the boxes on the racer’s wish list with ground-breaking innovation and development of the industry’s most robust validation, verification, and categorization model and a realistic race experience.
The platform’s ever-evolving verification data analysis model is the two-year project of MyWhoosh’s director of data analytics, Holden Comeau. The early esports adopter who won the 2019 USA Cycling Esports National Championship admits the model continually improves.
Add one additional spicey ingredient not found in any other platform’s recipe—One million dollars!
MyWhoosh, the free-to-use virtual cycling platform, will host the 2023 MyWhoosh Championship with the largest prize pot in cycling esports’ short history on the offering. Registration for the seven-stage Championship, spread across eight days beginning on April 28, 2023, opened on March 27, 2023.
“Yeah, I plan on participating!" answered Team USA and NeXT Esports pb Enshored racer J Bruhn, formerly Zwift #1 ranked and multi-time UCI Cycling Esports World Championship contender. "The why, I’ll be honest, the money is what got my attention, but I think more importantly, this is huge for the credibility of our sport! It is raising the bar for other virtual cycling platforms, setting an example, and catching the eye of sponsors. If we want virtual cycling to become a true professional sport, we must bring in sponsors to pay the bills. So, yeah, the money caught my eye, but I plan to try to compete because I think it is great for the sport, not because I plan to win.”
Read the full report published in road.cc to learn more about…
- Why MyWhoosh announced the big money series only a few days before the UCI Cycling Esports World Championship on Zwift?
- The new features and courses MyWhoosh is rolling out for the event and complete details of the series.
- How UAE Team Emirates offered a successful racer on the platform a pro road contract.
- MyWhoosh’s response to banned rider Eddy Hoole’s participation in a qualifying race with a heavy purse.
- What top-level esports cyclists say when asked, “Does the money make a difference?”
- and…Why money doesn’t buy happiness for many elite cyclists. Plus…
Read the full report published in road.cc to learn more about…
How despite the perceived correctable shortcomings, the positive potential for esports is game-changing. A summarization of the winnings of the top earners rivals some riders in the pro peloton. The cash infusion could go a long way toward raising awareness and supporting athlete and esports development if allocated appropriately and in the best interest of the sport and its athletes.
If the MyWhoosh Championship is only the beginning, as they contend, the platform will tip the scales in favor of the racers and the viability of esports. A professional racing league that pays racers a living wage and allows them to focus on esports? There are a million reasons to say “YES!”
However, if the platform doesn’t harness the power of the almighty dollar to build a respected, trusted, nurturing, and enjoyable venue, then, in that case, it incentivizes cheating, justifies overlooking the negative aspects of the platform and rider safety, and prevents the creation of a cohesive racing community that makes other platforms successful.
Semi-retired as owner and director of his private Orthopedic Physical Therapy practice after over 20 years, Chris is blessed with the freedom to pursue his passion for virtual cycling and writing. On a continual quest to give back to his bike for all the rewarding experiences and relationships it has provided him, he created a non-profit. Chris is committed to helping others with his bike through its work and the pages of his site.
In the summer of 2022, he rode 3,900 miles from San Francisco to New York to support the charity he founded, TheDIRTDadFund. His “Gain Cave” resides on the North Fork of Long Island, where he lives with his beautiful wife and is proud of his two independent children.
You will read him promoting his passion on the pages of Cycling Weekly, Cycling News, road.cc, Zwift Insider, Endurance.biz, and Bicycling. Chris is co-host of The Virtual Velo Podcast, too!
