Is it fair to compare the power numbers of professional road and elite esports cyclists?
By Kate Trdin
Since the infancy of cycling esports, skeptics have questioned its legitimacy. Quite frankly, I understand their reasoning. With the power data of many World Tour pros publicly accessible, I get that people are shocked to see esports athletes putting out numbers quite comparable, in some cases exceeding, those of World Tour riders. It feels as if the 2024 Esports Cycling World Championships, held live in Abu Dhabi with stringent performance verification measures, did little to quell the scrutiny and public perceptions of the sport’s legitimacy.
As someone involved in the sport at an elite level, I find this incredibly frustrating. Not only do I know many of the athletes in question and understand the rigor of the performance verification process, but it also makes complete sense in my mind that we are seeing performances of this quality from cycling esports athletes. Let me explain why.
Aerodynamics is Irrelevant
Outdoor riding is all about speed. Yes, watts undoubtedly matter, particularly when speed is low. However, so does aerodynamics, largely influenced by rider position. Indoors, an in-game aerodynamic drag coefficient is automatically applied depending on the rider’s inputted height and weight. In-game speed is then determined by power output, terrain, and the applied drag coefficient. In other words, whether the rider is in an aerodynamic position on the actual bike indoors is irrelevant. If the power is higher, the in-game speed will be greater.
What does this mean for performance? Well, many of us have found more optimal ways to push power for our physiology, which would not be appropriate for road cycling, given the creation of increased drag. We are seeing many esports athletes train themselves to perform standing low cadence efforts for periods exceeding 30 minutes, impossible on the road. And the results? Impressive power performances!
Gabriela Guerra, 2nd place female at the 2024 UCI Cycling Esports World Championships, recently completed a 33-minute effort at 5.7 watts/kilogram during MyWhoosh Sunday Race Club, very comparable with Tour De France Femmes 2023 winner Demi Vollering’s best recorded 20-minute effort of 5.6 watts/kg (Ozols, 2023). Guerra recorded the entire effort on her YouTube channel, where she can be seen standing pretty much the entire time. Check it out for yourself here.
Undoubtedly, one of the sports’ best female climbers, Illi Gardner, who has completed the popular Zwift climb segment Alpe Du Zwift in 37 minutes at a casual 5.8 watts/kilogram, further breaks down the cadence debate quite nicely on her personal YouTube Channel here.
Her key takeaway is that optimal cadence appears highly individual, although she demonstrates that her ability to repeat efforts at low cadence is, in fact, improved. For reference, Illi also holds the fastest ever real world women’s time up Alpe D’huez (46 minutes and 47 seconds) at roughly 75 RPM and 5.4 watts/kilogram. This is almost a staggering four minutes faster than Vollering’s recorded personal best.
Make no mistake, I am not implying that low cadence results in optimal power output for everyone in all scenarios, as you will see in Gardner’s video. However, negating aerodynamics from the equation certainly seems to benefit some riders with impressive power profiles, who may not have had such success in traditional road cycling.
Races are Shorter
Tom Pidcock recently burst back onto our screens after his race-winning performance at the Alula Tour, during which he set an all-time 7-minute 27-second personal best power of 7.69 watts/kilogram (Ozols, 2025). Some would argue that Pidcock is on great form. I agree.
I think it’s also important to acknowledge, however, what happened before he went on to deliver the all-time best effort. Due to bad course conditions, the portion of the race before Pidcock’s final effort was neutralized, allowing him to recover in the peloton. Coincidence, you say? I think not.
The numbers that we have recorded for road pros don’t reflect their true capabilities because their races are extremely long, require multiple repetitions of high-intensity efforts, and are often at altitude. We know Vollering can do 5.6w/kg for 20 minutes (Ozols, 2023), 70km into the final mountain stage of the tour, at altitude, on the final climb of the day. What do you think she could do completely fresh and tapered for a power test at sea level?
We will likely never know, but it’s safe to say it would be significantly more. There is no question that the numbers our elite esports riders are putting out are impressive.
Take elite rider Ewan Mackie, for example, who recently broke the internet when he posted an Instagram video of himself putting out a whopping 970 watts (11.1w/kg) for one minute. The video received over 300 comments and counting, many along the lines of “You’re a cheat,” “Stop embarrassing yourself,” and “No way is this possible.” This is despite the fact that Ewan has been verified to ride both the 2024 Zwift World Series and 2024 World Championships on his Kickr Bike smart trainer, on which he completed the effort.
While some people clearly have issues comprehending the numbers of elite esports athletes (and this might be an extreme case), with the amount of training many are doing, combined with significantly shorter, single-stage races, I don’t think the numbers we are seeing are in any way incomprehensible.
Psychological Barriers are Minimized
No matter how tough we like to believe we are, self-preservation is inherent in all of us. How is this relevant to cycling? Well, it means that outdoors, even in the highest stakes race scenarios, we are unlikely to completely empty our tanks because we need to conserve energy/awareness to ensure that we stay alive.
You know all those things we take for granted, like thinking about traffic, bunch position, keeping the bike upright, and staying on the road? Well, those things require energy, which could otherwise be outputted.
Personally, I know that I can go much deeper indoors, as my brain perceives the environment as safe. I don’t have to worry about what is around me, balancing the bike, or steering, which means I can focus all my energy on purely pushing power. Maybe it’s just me, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there is something in this.
The Weight Gap Reality
Outdoors, a rider’s weight naturally fluctuates depending on how much they eat, drink, and sweat, affecting their speed at times when watts/kilogram come into play, i.e., uphill. For Esports riders, in-game watts/kilogram are calculated based on one static measurement of a rider’s weight, taken anywhere from 12 hours to 60 minutes before the race starts.
What does this mean practically? No one races at their instantaneous weight, as this would be impossible. Oh, you drank some water, sweated, or burned some glycogen? Let me get the scales back out! We just do not have the technology to provide dynamic measurements of a rider’s weight in-game currently.
The absence of a standardized weigh-in protocol further complicates this issue. A longer weigh-in window may facilitate the use of weight-cutting strategies, such as rapid dehydration or glycogen depletion techniques, which not only result in major inflation of watts per kilogram but also pose serious health risks for athletes. While managing body composition is an important skill for all elite athletes in weight-based sports, cycling esports desperately requires a standardized weigh-in protocol to support the physical and mental health of athletes and promote the legitimacy of the sport.
Regardless of this, it is unlikely that comparing the watts/kilogram of esports versus professional road cyclists will ever be viable. There are, of course, responsible and evidence-based strategies, such as low residue and low sodium diets, which many esports athletes utilize to decrease water retention before weigh-ins, resulting in seemingly inflated w/kg.
Road pros are at the opposite end of the spectrum, with many focused on extreme carbohydrate loading protocols for their long races, resulting in increased body weight. Therefore, comparing w/kg between esports versus professional road riders is unlikely to be an overly useful metric, but best practices focused on minimizing the differences are critical.
Virtual Accessibility Removes Traditional Barriers to Cycling
Some pretty unique factors need to align perfectly to produce a successful World Tour-level pro cyclist. You need to have elite endurance physiology, excellent bike handling skills, and expensive equipment, not to mention access to opportunities, which often require having the right social and/or family contacts. Most cases require significant financial backing.
Oh, and it’s probably better if you live in Europe, too, unless you fancy spending nine months of the year away from home, friends, and family. If you’re female, it’s going to be even more difficult to make a living from cycling. While top riders can earn up to six figures, the 2023 minimum wage for riders employed in the Women’s World Tour was a mere 32,000 euros (Mickey, 2024), with many riders working second jobs to sustain their racing. And this is at the highest level of international women’s racing! Safe to say it is an almost impossible challenge to make a career as a female at the domestic or continental level.
Cycling esports is, in a way, a social experiment. It overcomes many of the barriers that may prevent people from entering professional cycling whilst providing opportunities to race at a comparable level. The result? We are beginning to realize that there are many people who, with appropriate training, can produce numbers comparable to those of World Tour riders but who would never have ordinarily had the opportunity to pursue pro cycling.
Take 2022 UCI Cycling Esports World Champion Jay Vine, for example. Until he won Zwift Academy in 2020, Jay was little more than a local Aussie talent hoping to crack the big-time European dream. Now, he is a multi-grand tour stage winner and key rider for men’s World Tour Team UAE Emirates. No doubt Jay’s numbers have always been impressive, yet without esports, perhaps he would’ve never found his way into the men’s pro peloton.
Don’t get me wrong, I acknowledge there is still an undoubted level of privilege associated with cycling esports’ fairly substantial equipment start-up cost and performance verification requirements. But I believe that, for the most part, it is cheaper, more accessible, and more welcoming than traditional road cycling.
It’s Not Apples-to-Apples, And It Shouldn’t Be
What to make of this? In a nutshell, comparing the power outputs of cycling esports athletes and professional road cyclists should be done with a critical eye. There are simply too many uncontrolled factors that influence this comparison. We must treat cycling esports as a unique discipline. Road cycling isn’t cyclocross, track, or mountain biking. It isn’t esports, either.
Instead of using road cycling as a yardstick for esports, we should be focusing on further refining current performance verification guidelines for cycling esports to ensure ongoing equity and legitimacy of the sport. A sport that is fighting to establish a foothold as a unique discipline, knowing that it has a long way to go.
Next time you question the legitimacy of a cycling esports performance or hold it against the unfair road racing standard, what damage might you be doing to the growth and reputation of the sport?
References
Mickey, A. (2025). How much do pro women cyclists get paid? Salaries are on the rise, but not for all. Escape Collective. https://escapecollective.com/womens-salaries-are-on-the-rise-but-not-for-all/
Ozols, K. (2023). Demi Vollering Dethrones Van Vleuten On Tourmalet | Tour de France Femmes 2023 Stage 7. Lantern Rouge. https://lanternerouge.com/2023/07/29/demi-vollering-dethrones-van-vleuten-on-tourmalet-tour-de-france-femmes-2023-stage-7/
Ozols, K. (2025). Tom Pidcock Pushes Huge W/KG After Leaving INEOS. Lantern Rouge. https://lanternerouge.com/2025/01/30/tom-pidcock-pushes-huge-w-kg-after-leaving-ineos-alula-tour-2025-stage-2/
Kate is an elite racer for Esports team BL13 p/b Level Velo. In 2024, she won the Australian National Esports Championship and placed 24th at the Esports Cycling World Championships. She holds a Bachelor of Psychological Science and a Master’s in Speech Pathology from the University of Tasmania and works as a clinical speech pathologist. An avid reader and writer, Kate enjoys sharing insights into cycling esports and crafting thoughtful stories about the sport.
Brilliant writing Kate. Thank you!
Thanks so much for reading
Fantastic article! I think the Worlds this year were the final nail in the coffin for anyone with good faith concerns over indoor legitimacy. If that’s not good enough, nothing ever will be.
Thanks for reading! I completely agree and would like to think so… Although I’m sure there are ‘purists’ out there who still have arguments to make