By Nile Battey
Meet the young Belgian cyclist Ruben Dhondt who is rapidly making a name for himself in the world of elite cycling esports.
Ruben Dhondt is a rising prospect in the elite cycling esports scene, racing on multiple platforms. The 2024 UCI Cycling Esports World Championship format is “tailormade” for his riding style and has him hopeful for future success.
Dhondt’s avatar is becoming a regular sight at the front of the MyWhoosh Sunday Race Club Category 2 field. When he isn’t sprinting for the win, he can often be found repping Watopia’s Climb Portals in search of the elusive level 100.
Having turned to cycling esports relatively recently, Ruben’s rate of progression has been inspiring to witness. Let’s hear what he has to say about his journey so far.
Hi there, thanks for taking the time to chat with me. Can you share a bit about your background, such as where you're from and what you do?
First of all, thank you very much for having me! My name is Ruben Dhondt and I am 24 years old. I live in Belgium at the foot of the infamous “Muur van Geraardsbergen”. This Flemish cobbled hill was the key point on the previous course of the Tour of Flanders.
Besides all the cycling-related things in my life, I work as a financial consultant in the banking sector. When I am not cycling or working, I enjoy listening to podcasts while on walks in the countryside. I am also (still) a diehard fan of Pokemon, so I am always into watching anime series, movies, or random Pokemon videos on YouTube.
That's awesome! Now, let's dive into your cycling journey. When did you first hop on a bike?
Like most people, I had a cheap bike when I was young and rode short rides with my father. It was nothing special or serious; it was more like father-son time.
Cycling was never my main hobby. When I was younger, my main focus was Jiujitsu (Japanese self-defense art). As an 8-year-old kid, I trained with adults, which was very hard when I look back on it. I learned very important skills such as discipline and always trying my best.
When I was 12 years old I started doing athletics because others saw I had a talent for it. I tried combining Jiujitsu and athletics for about a year, but eventually decided to commit fully to athletics. Starting out I focussed on the shorter more explosive distances such as 200m, after a while I reached a point where I felt I was no longer making the desired progression, this caused me to look for new challenges within the world of athletics and shifted my horizons to longer distances.
In my final years, I focused on the 800m on the track. A regional title and a selection for the Belgian senior championships were my proudest accomplishments in my athletics career.
Fascinating! Switching gears a bit, tell us about your transition into the world of virtual cycling esports.
My younger brother introduced me to virtual cycling. He started riding for the Team DSM-Firmenich PostNL Development team. Preparing for his first season of races, the team advised him at the end of 2021 to incorporate indoor training in the winter months.
As a result, my parents purchased a Wahoo Kickr Core and a Zwift membership for my brother. After a few days, it was clear that I was actually on the trainer far more than he was! This eventually caused me to create my own account in December 2021 as I began to ride more and more. I saw indoor cycling as the perfect method to exercise in a safe environment and avoid cold and bad weather outside.
At this point, I was still 100% a running athlete until something very unexpected happened. In August 2023, I had to stop running at a high level because of a hip impingement (a hip injury caused by running). Because I had already been active on Zwift for a while, I immediately decided to go full ahead with a virtual cycling esports career from then on.
What has been the proudest achievement of your Elite cycling esports career so far?
Even in my very young cycling esports career, I am very proud of some great achievements. In December 2023, I was ranked number one in ZPoints on ZwiftPower. Furthermore, I was also part of the Zwift Grand Prix, where I had my first experience in the Elite division of cycling esports.
Some weeks later, I also participated in the Zwift Games Elite Sprint and Epic race. I had just missed the semi-finals of the sprint race due to a few tactical mistakes but also due to a technical defect in the start (internet dropout) which meant that I already had to waste a lot of watts just to get back to the peloton.
In the Epic race, I finished 37th, only dropping off the pace in the final after doing some domestique work for my teammate Mickael Plantureux (a very talented rider). Being a part of this tough race for so long surprised not only me but also my team, especially since I had so little experience with such high-level racing.
Sounds like a wild ride! Speaking of rides, you're part of an Elite esports team, right? How has being part of a team shaped you, and is there something unique about your squad that sets it apart from others?
When starting out on Zwift, I was a member of Belgian community teams, such as BZR, Sportsolid, and later, Alpha eRacing Team. I would just like to briefly thank these three teams, as I learned a lot from them. In 2024, I switched to the French Elite squad of HEXAGONE. This choice was very obvious since I had already guest-ridden for them in the Zwift Grand Prix.
HEXAGONE’s success is due to their absolute dedication to the sport. They even organized an IRL event in February 2024, including a presentation and collaboration with their other cycling divisions (MTB, cyclocross, road).
I also want to mention that this was all made possible by Romain Malbreil. He is the big man (I nickname him ‘le patron’ which means the boss in French) behind this fantastic project that has a bright future ahead of it. Under his approving eye, I hope to further develop myself as an elite cycling esports athlete and continue discovering the broad world of cycling, both indoors and out.
Read the article below to learn more about Romain Malbreil’s impact on cycling esports and how he was instrumental in organizing the 2024 French Esports National Championship.
To satisfy the data geeks here, would you be willing to share some of your physical stats, such as your indoor personal bests?
Yes, of course. But before dropping some numbers, I want to mention that my racing weight varies between 70 and 73 kilograms so that my numbers can be correctly interpreted.
Impressive numbers! Looking ahead, what are your cycling esports goals, both short-term and long-term?
In the short term, I hope to qualify for the upcoming UCI Cycling Esports World Championships later this year. I think the format this year suits me much, far more than in the previous editions so if I am able to participate, I want to give my all and try to perform as well as possible.
In terms of long-term goals, I hope to become stronger and become a regular name on the elite cycling esports scene. I would love to improve my endurance because I want to discover the outdoor cycling scene in the future, as I currently have no experience with outdoor racing. I will first need to improve my technique on the bike, which I am looking forward to for the upcoming months and even years!
If you could only win either the UCI Cycling Esports World Championship or The Elite Zwift Games—what would it be and why?
At the moment, I would say becoming UCI Cycling Esports World Champion because this title is worth more in my opinion (for now). The Zwift Games just had their first appearance so I think they still have a bit more work to do to become at the same level as the Worlds. Although I wouldn’t mind winning The Elite Zwift Games in the future if I could!
How do you feel about the current multi-platform landscape for cycling esports?
Currently, I am using MyWhoosh and Zwift for freeriding, training, and, of course, racing. Personally, I think that Zwift will remain the top dog; however, I expect that MyWhoosh will be a strong candidate to take over the virtual throne soon.
IndieVelo and Rouvy also seem like nice platforms but I don’t have any experience with them as yet, which is maybe a sign that they are not on the level of Zwift or MyWhoosh.
Are there certain aspects of each platform that you find more appealing than others?
As I already said earlier, I am a Pokemon fanboy. The aspect of getting stronger and gaining levels is very important in Pokemon and this leveling is also part of Zwift and MyWhoosh. You can say that this is a feature which I really find appealing. Besides this, I also like that you can gain achievements on both platforms as well as generate an “in-game” currency to spend on nice-looking equipment and apparel.
When comparing the two platforms through the eyes of a racer, MyWhoosh is definitely lacking, compared to Zwift. The delayed power transition (which can be up to 4 or 5 seconds sometimes) and the very sporadic drafting are very difficult to understand. But let’s be clear, I hope that all existing platforms will pull each other to greater heights, which will only benefit the whole community and our beautiful sport!
Finally, some skeptics question the legitimacy of cycling esports. What's your take on the challenges of gaining recognition and trust from invested platform users and everyday real world cycling fans?
Personally, I feel that Zwift isn’t doing enough for fair racing. On MyWhoosh for example, in their premium events, you have to pair your smart bike or trainer as the ‘primary’ power source and your power meter as a secondary power source. By doing this, you already filter out a lot of people with wrong intentions.
On the other hand, I know that having the correct or suitable equipment can be very expensive, therefore it should be an option for event organizers to choose between the need to dual record power sources or not. I think that highly ranked community races such as Zwift Racing League and ZRacing should have higher levels of verification. With the recent price increase of the Zwift subscription, I hope that there will soon follow a statement about how these resources will be used. Let’s hope the verification of community races will be a part of it, which is something most of us have been asking for a very long time.
The final point to consider is that the athletes themselves have to be checked. Like the UCI does in other disciplines of cycling, dope testing should be performed where appropriate. Currently, this is still a bit difficult because there are high costs involved, but I hope that in the future, this will be possible. I think this is the absolute pinnacle to make our sport as transparent as possible.
In Summary, I think our sport is heading in the right direction, but there is still a lot of work to do!
Brilliant! Thanks for the enlightening conversation! Wishing you all the best!
Nile is a dedicated athlete who competes indoors for the elite Restart Racing p/b Alex Coh squad. As an enthusiastic member of the cycling esports community, he dreams of one day representing Great Britain at the UCI Cycling Esports World Championships. Nile’s keen eye for the intricacies of cycling esports is undeniable.
Welcoming him onto The Zommunique’ team promises outstanding insights, analysis, and opinions. Nile’s perspective offers a valuable look into the evolving sport from an elite racer who represents the next generation of aspiring esports competitors.
Those quads though LOL, no wonder I saw this dude descending the Alpe when I was only half way up in recent FRR race.