The second annual list of innovators and influential individuals impacting the cycling esports world in 2025.
VVN’s Most Impactful People List sets out to recognize the athletes and individuals who have truly shaped cycling esports—both on and off the bike. These are the game-changers, the groundbreakers, the difference-makers. By spotlighting them, we aim to humanize the personalities behind the avatars and build the kind of athlete-fan connection that’s vital to the growth and sustainability of this emerging sport.
The term impactful gets thrown around a lot, often in contexts where there’s still plenty of work to be done. But for this list, we’re talking about people who have made a tangible, lasting difference. Their influence on the sport’s evolution has been powerful and undeniable.
And when you’re still in the early stages, the path behind you is often clearer than the one ahead. That’s why it’s so important to acknowledge the visionaries who set the groundwork—the dreamers and doers who believed in cycling esports before it had mainstream traction. Some of those early figures remain active today. Others have passed the torch.
This list’s first edition for 2024 makes that distinction, knowing full well that historical influence weighed heavily in the inaugural edition.
Click here to find VVN’s Most Impactful People in Cycling Esports For 2024!
For this year’s list, we refined the time frame—starting where the previous edition left off and covering the most significant contributions through the present. The goal was to spotlight those who made the greatest impact on elite cycling esports over the past year.
We also made a few changes based on community feedback. To better represent gender parity, we expanded the panel, welcoming Virtual Velo Podcast co-host and respected cycling broadcaster Emma Martin alongside another highly regarded female leader in the cycling esports community who prefers to remain anonymous.
Joining them once again were elite esports racer and award-winning cycling journalist Aaron Borrill, captain of South Africa’s national esports squad and a respected voice in the space. Together, our four-person panel reviewed countless interviews, behind-the-scenes conversations, and deep dives into performance and contribution metrics.
What emerged was an extensive nominee list—and the first list of its kind built on a transparent set of criteria, designed to honor those shaping this sport’s future while never forgetting those who laid its foundation.
Criteria
- People who have made a positive impact on the sport.
- People who have invested in the sport (money, time, resources, and intellectual property).
- People who inspire others to participate in the sport.
- People who have promoted the sport and guided policy through national and international governance.
- People who are doing lasting and innovative work in the sport.
- Media personalities, influencers, and journalists whose voices promote the sport.
- Elite cycling esports is not virtual cycling, and the panel drew this line while also avoiding a popularity contest or being discriminatory in any way.
Like any list, the panel had to make difficult decisions, and some influential individuals didn’t make the cut. We hope this gives the distinguished gathering of esteemed names the gravitas it deserves and is a distinction the sport’s personalities aspire to achieve in the years ahead.
Here are the VVN's Most Impactful People in Cycling Esports.
Kate McCarthy
Since serendipitously finding cycling in 2017 at the age of twenty-four, the Kiwi has built an impressive cycling pedigree, with four bronze ITT medals and a second-place finish at New Zealand’s 2021 Road Race Nationals. When injury derailed her professional aspirations and illness sidelined her from the 2024 Elite Road Nationals, the full-time police officer pivoted back to esports, where she had been a Zwift Academy finalist in 2020.
Her decision paid off, as she claimed the 2024 rainbow jersey as the UCI Cycling Esports World Champion. With 30 top-five finishes, including 23 victories, in just 38 starts, she has become one of MyWhoosh’s most successful racers. She also dominated the Zwift Games 2025, winning two of three championships and the overall title.
Kate successfully returned to the road in 2025 and recently finished third in the Kiwi Nationals road race, behind a couple of European-based pro roadies: Kim Cadzow (EF Education-Oatly) and Niamh Fisher-Black (Lidl-Trek), and ahead of quite a few others.
Jason Osborne
After winning silver in the lightweight men’s double sculls at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, he captured the first-ever UCI Cycling Esports World Championship title later that year. He’s been a fixture at every edition since adding podium finishes in 2022 and 2023 before securing his second rainbow jersey in 2024.
That early success earned him a contract with UCI WorldTeam Alpecin–Deceuninck in 2021. While he showed promise on the road, Osborne found it difficult to settle into the team’s structure. In September, he announced his departure, citing a fading passion for road racing and a renewed focus on cycling esports.
With 31 wins in 96 Sunday Race Club appearances—a 32% win rate—Osborne has landed in the top five prize positions in more than 65% of his starts. He also won the Zwift Games 25 Epic Championship.
Sean Parry
As Zwift’s Director of Racing, he plays a critical role in shaping the platform’s direction in the post-UCI era. A driving force behind the creation of the Zwift Games, he posed a central question: “Had we started from scratch three years ago, without any external constraints, how would we have shaped Zwift’s racing landscape?”
That reflection led to a renewed focus on both community and elite-level competition, pushing the platform to refine and innovate for its most dedicated users. The result was the launch of the inaugural Zwift Games in 2024—a bold move aimed at redefining virtual cycling competition.
In December 2024, he made a high-stakes decision to pause all elite racing on Zwift, putting both his and the platform’s reputation on the line to address ongoing smart trainer accuracy issues. The pause sparked collaboration between racers, hardware manufacturers, and Zwift’s independent performance verification team to develop long-term solutions. In tandem, Zwift introduced updated ruleset clarifications to reduce the impact on athletes when infractions occur outside their control and where no foul play is suspected.
Martin Wang Hjørngaard
In front of a crowd of 500 spectators at Sportcenter Herning, 24-year-old defending champion Julie Marckmann Sørensen clinched back-to-back titles at the 2025 Danish National Cycling Esports Championships on February 1st on Zwift. On the men’s side, 20-year-old Asger Paaske Frederiksen stormed to victory before heading to Spain to join his new Torres-Trigon teammates. Denmark’s largest broadcaster, TV 2, aired the event to an estimated 1.5 million households, marking another milestone for cycling esports.
The event underscores the impact of the Danish Cycling Union’s Head of Esports, whose contributions have helped elevate the sport both nationally and internationally. His efforts include organizing multiple live events for national and world championship finals and playing a key role in supporting Bjoern Andreassen’s run to the world title in 2023. Notably, he was the only representative from any national federation to attend the 2024 World Championship live final in Abu Dhabi alongside his athletes.
Jacob Fraser
Following Michael Rogers’ departure from his 3.5-year post as Head of Innovation and Esports to jump into the passenger seat of the Lidl-Trek team car, the UCI turned to Fraser. He came with a wealth of experience, spending almost four years at Zwift before moving to MyWhoosh to act as Director of Esports & Events, where he set the foundation for the platform’s active pursuit of the racing sector of the market.
The Californian made a commitment to personalize the UCI’s relationship with the sport and has become an approachable fixture in the community. Using his expertise in event management and governance, he was integral in delivering the first live event UCI Cycling Esports World Championship final.
Under his direction, the UCI is laying out a plan to formalize and legitimize the emerging discipline and firmly position itself as the steward of the sport’s future. The ambitious roadmap includes independent performance verification, hardware standardization, and a sanctioned event calendar, among other foundational initiatives.
Dean Cunningham
When Zwift hit pause on the Zwift World Series, this passionate and outspoken figure in the elite cycling esports scene stepped up to fill the gap. An elite racer with Restart pb Alex Coh Coaching, he backed up his words with action—taking on roles in event organization and athlete advocacy.
He launched the Restart Invitational Elite Series, founded Cycling Esports UK, and is playing a key role in forming a Cycling Esports Riders’ Union. With a clear vision for the sport’s future, he hasn’t shied away from hot-button issues, weighing in on topics like weigh-in protocols, the legitimacy of esports athletes posting WorldTour-level numbers, and the ongoing debate around performance verification.
Kathrin Fuhrer
Fuhrer spent eight years competing on the professional alpine skiing circuit before transitioning to a career in education. She dedicated herself to cycling esports as a full-time profession in June of 2023. She won the Zwift Games 24 Overall title, earned bronze at the 2024 UCI Cycling Esports World Championship, and is a top competitor in MyWhoosh’s Sunday Race Club.
Matt Smithson
As MyWhoosh’s Senior Manager of Esports, Events, and Game Operations, his fingerprints are on every feature, innovation, and racing element of the platform. He played a pivotal role in securing the tender to host the UCI Cycling Esports World Championship and was instrumental in shaping the unique format of the 2024 edition. His work was central to the success of the sport’s first-ever live event final, marking a major milestone in cycling esports history. In addition to the Supertri E World Championship and several virtual and live event National Championships.
Connie Björnehall
Mika Söderström and Johannes Randrop Keiding claimed 2025 Swedish National Cycling Esports titles before a packed house in Borås on February 7th. The live event, hosted by MyWhoosh, reached 500,000 households through Swedish Public TV (SVT) and was part of SM-veckan (Swedish National Championship Week), sharing the stage with the nation’s top winter sports. Swedish Cycling’s Chairman of Esports is credited with pioneering the sport in his native country and setting the standard for all of cycling’s national governing bodies to follow.
Jakub Vojacek
In a remarkably short time, MyWhooshInfo.com has established itself as the central hub and go-to resource for racing and training stats on the platform. Expertly designed and highly functional, the tool stands as a symbol of the ingenuity behind third-party support for the MyWhoosh racing community—and a testament to its founder’s passion, dedication, and volunteer spirit.
Matt Payne
As the founder of Full Speed Events, he forms one-half of the trailblazing commentary duo whose voices have become synonymous with MyWhoosh’s Sunday Race Club. His distinctive style and deep knowledge of the sport have made him a trusted narrator of the action across countless UCI international cycling events.
He helped set a new standard for groundbreaking cycling esports coverage as an on-the-ground commentator, putting words to the action, at the first-ever live UCI Cycling Esports World Championship final in Abu Dhabi in 2024, a landmark moment for the discipline. Beyond esports, he is also the co-host of The Crosscast, a respected podcast in the cyclocross world, where he brings insightful analysis and personality to the mic.
Alice Lethbridge
An accomplished cyclist both on the road and in the virtual arena, she has emerged as a strong voice for authenticity and fair play. As an active member of the Fair E-Racing Alliance—a coalition of community teams committed to integrity on Zwift founded by Roman Edelfeher—she’s played a key role in promoting clean competition. Her expertise in performance verification, data anomaly detection, and governance was instrumental in supporting the Restart Elite Invitational and CE: UK Championships. Her efforts to support athlete advocacy extend to lending her expertise to the preliminary committee exploring the creation of a Rider’s Union.
She’s also a vocal advocate for policies aimed at preventing extreme dieting and disordered eating within the online racing community, helping push the sport toward a healthier, more sustainable future. British Cycling recently awarded her the RISE scholarship to develop her coaching skills, which she utilizes when mentoring young female riders across several continents. She has represented Great Britain in the UCI Cycling Esports World Championships and participated in the Olympic Esports Series in Singapore in 2023.
JP Leclerc
An elite racer and 2024 Team Canada representative, he’s not only a competitor at the highest level but also one of the sport’s most visible and impactful ambassadors. With a mix of humor, humility, and hustle, he’s cracked the social media code—becoming one of cycling esports’ few true influencers and helping expose the discipline to a wider, more diverse audience.
Through his Instagram account, @indr.spec, he’s cultivated a following of more than 12,000 fans by embracing a “Not top of the class, but not nearly last” ethos that resonates with everyday riders and high-level racers alike. His content blends relatable storytelling, behind-the-scenes insights, and lighthearted commentary that demystifies the world of Zwift and virtual racing, making it more accessible and appealing.
Adding to his impact is the resilience behind his story—he’s also a brain tumor survivor.
Neal Fryett
He has become a dominant force as the fiercest sprinter in cycling esports, claiming the 2024 Zwift Games Epic Championship and sweeping the 2025 Sprint, Climb, and Overall titles. Fryett earned back-to-back silver medals in the USA Cycling Esports Nationals (2024, 2025), along with a national title in the 45–49 age group. He also represented Team USA at the 2024 UCI Cycling Esports World Championship in Abu Dhabi, winning Stage One, and took an elite win in the Echelon Racing League.
Dirk Friel
The TrainingPeaks co-founder’s decision to acquire indievelo has shifted the focus toward the strategic development of business within the virtual cycling space. It sparked a wave of renewed attention across the industry—from marketing and media efforts to platform partnerships, product development, and a return to core offerings.
The move has proven influential in ways he may not have initially anticipated, with far-reaching implications for other businesses in the space and clear benefits for consumers. It’s a change that’s helping to shape a more diverse and competitive virtual training ecosystem beyond just TrainingPeaks Virtual.
Freddy Ovett
The Aussie has emerged as one of cycling esports’ most successful crossover athletes, blending a pro road and gravel pedigree with virtual racing prowess. He claimed a silver medal in the 2022 UCI Cycling Esports World Championships after an 8th-place finish in the inaugural 2020 edition. He won the Climb Championship on AdZ to secure the Zwift Games 2024 Men’s Overall Championship. He also added Virtual Tour de France stage 4 in 2020 to his long list of virtual achievements.
Masaka Cycling Club
The Masaka Cycling Club are leading the charge for cycling esports talent identification and cycling development in Africa. Located in Masaka, Uganda, the club aims to uplift and educate both male and female athletes who face many challenges, such as poverty, corruption, the lack of stable internet connections, infrastructure, and equipment.
Despite these barriers, the Masaka Cycling Club riders are prominent competitors on Zwift, and the ZRL in particular – racing, learning, and improving as they build towards becoming an established team and elevating talented riders to compete at the UCI Cycling Esports World Championships eventually.
Honorable Mention: Escape Collective
Escape Collective recently became the first mainstream cycling media outlet to formally recognize and legitimize the sport by appointing a dedicated Cycling Esports Reporter—a title I never expected to exist, but always believed should.
Yes, you read that right—cycling esports now has its own journalist. That milestone is thanks to the bold vision of Escape Collective. Pitching a role to cover basement bike racing to their members couldn’t have been easy, but Wade Wallace, Caley Fretz, Matt de Neef, Joe Lindsey, and the rest of the team stuck their necks out and made it happen. It’s gutsy, forward-thinking, and, in my (admittedly biased) opinion, long overdue.
Conclusion
Who’s on your list? Now it’s your turn. We’re handing the spotlight to you—the community. Who has made an impact on your cycling esports journey? Are there unsung heroes who deserve recognition? Share your stories, your nominations, and the names that have influenced or inspired you. Take the opportunity to learn more about the difference makers on the list.
Drop a comment below or join the conversation on our social media platforms. Whether you’re suggesting names, reflecting on how someone shaped your experience, or offering a fresh perspective on the individuals we’ve highlighted—your input matters.
Let’s keep the momentum going. By recognizing those who challenge the norm, drive progress, and push the boundaries of what’s possible in this sport, we shape the future of cycling esports—together. We’re looking forward to hearing from you.
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.
I’m clearly biased but I think that Beccah Niesen, Karla Williams and Em Nyquist should be nominated for their work of getting women into e-sports over the past year. They have built a community from scratch that continues to grow.
Great shout out, Jeff! You have every reason to be biased. As you know, I believe very strongly in Beccah’s mission and have taken every opportunity to feature it here, including a page dedicated to the FemmeCycling Collab. The work of the three influential and impactful community leaders deserves acknowledgment. To be clear, they were all nominated and there was much debate. Karla was selected to the first edition last year for her contribuiton to elite level cycling esports. In the end, it came down to the final criteria listed in the introduction: Elite cycling esports is not virtual cycling, and the panel drew this line while also avoiding a popularity contest or being discriminatory in any way. We had to make a lot of difficult decisions and acknowledge that it is a very elite group. I hope it is an easy decision next year. Thank you for your support and for taking the time to share your opinion. It is well taken.