Cycling news: The UCI confirmed on the fringes of the World Cycling Championships in Innsbruck that they want to create an eSports World Championship and set up rules for virtual cycling races for digital platforms such as Zwift.
Virtual training platforms like Zwift have been getting more and more fans and participants in recent years. Such platforms can be used not only for training purposes, but also for a wide variety of competitions. This year, among other things, the CVR World Cup Series for men and women has already been held. The final race was held in Vancouver, with donations generating a prize pool of over $50.000.
https://www.velomotion.de/2018/01/zwift-rollentraining-wintertraining-wahoo/
The UCI attended the eSports Forum organized by the International Olympic Committee over the summer and is ready should eSports be included in the Olympic Games or other events. It is not yet clear when a UCI eSports World Championship and the format of the racing will take place, but the UCI would like to be involved.
“We created the eMTB World Championship, the first one will be held in Mont-Sainte-Anne, Canada in 2019, but eSports is different. We are very interested in virtual sports and traditional outdoor racing. Looking to the future of all aspects of cycling, we wanted to support the development of virtual cycling. We want to ensure this is done properly by creating clear policies and rules, including anti-doping rules. Cycling as a sport is different from many other sports because it's not virtual, you have to pedal, so it's a real physical effort. We could see Peter Sagan competing in esports races one day. I think that would be great for cycling,” UCI President David Lappartient told Cyclingnews
It remains to be seen whether it will really come to that and whether this is what the future of cycling will look like.
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