MyWhoosh becomes the exclusive virtual cycling platform for the UCI Road World Championships, with rights to virtual versions of the road race and time trial courses.
Abu Dhabi Cycling Club, January 25, 2024
As first reported on Cycling Weekly!
The announcement came as a surprise to the assembled press accompanying UCI, MyWhoosh, and Abu Dhabi Sports Council representatives on hand for the official unveiling of the 2024 UCI Cycling Esports World Championships specifics. On August 17, 2023, the Union Cyclist Internationale (UCI) announced that it awarded the UCI Cycling Esports World Championships to the cycling esports platform MyWhoosh for the next three years. The United Arab Emirates-based MyWhoosh will be the exclusive organizer of the 2024 through 2026 events.
“I believe it is clearly a bridge with all the other disciplines. A way to launch cycling everywhere, and more specifically in big cities where it’s challenging to ride, while also motivating more women to ride,” says UCI President David Lappartient on the impact of virtual cycling and the partnership.
The next UCI Road World Championships will be held in Zurich, Switzerland (21-29 September 2024), Kigali, Rwanda (21-28 September 2025) and Montreal, Canada (20-27 September 2026). Virtual cycling platform MyWhoosh will receive exclusive rights to the circuits.
The MyWhoosh platform is strengthening its commitment to accessibility by offering virtual versions of the event’s road race and time trial courses. Allowing riders and the global public to challenge themselves on the same courses the professional cyclists will compete on for the rainbow bands, no matter where they are in the world.
The UCI and MyWhoosh revealed that 20% of the 2024 UCI Cycling Esports World Championships semi-finalists will qualify through the MyWhoosh platform’s public qualification process.
The announcement comes alongside plans by MyWhoosh to roll out AppleTV and the MyWhoosh Link App while confirming that they will remain free to use without the intention to monetize in the foreseeable future.
When asked what he considers when bringing the sport to non-traditional regions, Lappartient said, “First and foremost, for the UCI, for cycling, we are the International Cycling Union, and we must be worldwide. Our roots are in Europe, but we are in South America and Africa, and now here in the UAE. They are building a cycling environment. It isn’t only about having a WorldTour Team. It’s about having infrastructure and building venues, like the new velodrome that’s coming next year in 2025, and people are riding their bikes here. That’s a reality, so it’s good for us to be here.”
The timely comment came fittingly as a group of adolescent riders from the Abu Dhabi Cycling Club sped by the outdoor press briefing while staring wide-eyed at their idol, Tadej Pogacar, who was in attendance.
The cycling infrastructure investment, including a velodrome, earned Abu Dhabi the UCI’s coveted Bike City designation, becoming the first in the Middle East or Asia.
In addition to the UCI Cycling Esports World Championships, Abu Dhabi will host the 2024 UCI Urban Cycling World Championships, the 2028 UCI Road World Championships, the 2028 UCI Gran Fondo World Championships, and the 2029 UCI Track World Championships, confirming its ambitions to becoming a global hub for top-class cycling events.
Lappartient foreshadowed the 2028 Road Worlds when describing UCI’s intention to lay roots in the region: “They have a strong management structure and the expertise to organize many top-class international events in different disciplines and sports. The next circuit for the Road World Championship in 2029 will be very different, and perhaps an opportunity for a top sprinter to be the World Champion. At the UCI, we are very careful to have different circuits for different types of riders to be World Champions. That’s what we have in mind, and the UAE can deliver a world-class event. For us, the UAE is a very strong partner.”
Not to be overshadowed, the assembled group of UCI and MyWhoosh representatives, like the UCI Head of Innovation and Esports Michael Rogers and MyWhoosh Race Control and Events Manager Matt Smithson, ceremoniously and succinctly revealed the format for the 2024 UCI Cycling Esports World Championship.
The UCI and MyWhoosh announced on November 9, 2023, that the fourth edition of the UCI Cycling Esports World Championships final will take place in Abu Dhabi.
For the first time in cycling esports history, all qualifying participants will have the opportunity to compete in person, with the event organizer coordinating travel arrangements for the top 20 female and male athletes from the 150 men and women competing in the semi-final round to join the competition in Abu Dhabi.
The UCI will assign approximately 80% of the starting spots to the National Federations, who will choose their national representatives. The remaining 20% of the semi-finalists will earn their spots through the public qualification process on the MyWhoosh platform.
Plus two wildcards per gender, alludes Lappartient: “It would be interesting to see a rider like Tadej Pogacar compete against indoor specialists in the 2024 UCI Cycling Esports World Championships here in Abu Dhabi.”
A breakdown of the 2024 UCI Cycling Esports World Championships is to follow, including a complete description of the courses for the three-race live final format.
Semi-retired after more than 20 years as the owner and director of a private Orthopedic Physical Therapy practice, Chris now enjoys the freedom to dedicate himself to his passions—virtual cycling and writing.
Driven to give back to the sport that has enriched his life with countless experiences and relationships, he founded a non-profit organization, TheDIRTDadFund. In the summer of 2022, he rode 3,900 miles from San Francisco to his “Gain Cave” on Long Island, New York, raising support for his charity.
His passion for cycling shines through in his writing, which has been featured in prominent publications like Cycling Weekly, Cycling News, road.cc, Zwift Insider, Endurance.biz, and Bicycling. In 2024, he was on-site in Abu Dhabi, covering the first live, in-person UCI Cycling Esports World Championship.
His contributions to cycling esports have not gone unnoticed, with his work cited in multiple research papers exploring this evolving discipline. He sits alongside esteemed esports scientists as a member of the Virtual Sports Research Network and contributes to groundbreaking research exploring the new frontier of virtual physical sport. Chris co-hosts The Virtual Velo Podcast, too.
