Hamilton’s Kate McCarthy is the top qualifier in the defence of her title for the 2025 UCI Esport World Championships in Abu Dhabi this weekend.
McCarthy heads a four-strong New Zealand contingent including last year’s top qualifier Ollie Jones and fellow Cantabrian Michael Vink plus Marlborough-based former Black Stick, Bridget Kiddle.
The quartet all qualified for the world championship from qualifying and semifinals, among 22 female and 22 male competitors chasing world championship honours in Abu Dabi.
This year the My Woosh-powered competition features three 15-minute races. They comprise a highly technical Sprint over 1.7kms; The Strategist over a 9km circuit with a 1.5km climb; and concludes with the All Out, comprising four laps of a 4km circuit with points for each lap and double for the final.
“There is a lot more too esport than most people realise in terms of the way the game dynamics work and the type of power output you need, said McCarthy, who won the recent global semifinal comprising 120 competitors.
“It is a little different in terms of how hard you need to go compared with a usual outdoor road race.
“Your abilities as a cyclist on the road or track is definitely relevant. The difference is on the road you need the power at the end of three hours racing. Whereas in our racing, we want power over the duration of an hour – perhaps more relevant to track-style racing.”
The world champion said Esport Racing is like real world scenarios as much as possible.
“There are more tactics involved around when you attack and how you go about it because everyone can see your numbers on the side of the screen. It is about how you can use them to your advantage and the timing – when you go and how hard you go – are the keys.
“On the road you can’t see the power-metres of other riders but in esport you must watch for a spike on one side of the screen but at the same time keep an eye on your character – is it sitting in the draft or not, is the person going for it or just catching up. There are a few different things you are watching for than racing out on the road.”
McCarthy said her experience from last year is a major help.
“The biggest thing last year was walking in to find we were on this massive stage with a crowd of people which was somewhat different to racing in my living-room.
“I will be going with a target on my back but that’s all part of it – I am not used to that but it will be cool I think.”
Kiddle will be in her first esport world championships, having represented New Zealand Black Sticks in hockey and more recent turned to ironman competition, competing in the Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Taupo.
She was an impressive 12th place in the global semifinals in her first time in the global competition.
Jones has been at the forefront of esport, finishing fourth in the first world championship, ninth in last year’s final in Abu Dabi, and was fifth in the recent semifinals.
There will interest in the performance of Vink, who has always impressed with his power generation. On the road Vink won the GC title at the NZ Cycle Classic and is the national road champion and time trial winner at both under-23 and elite.
His massive numbers ultimately earned him two years on the UCI WorldTour with UAE Team Emirates, while both he and Jones also rode for the Bolton Equities Black Spoke pro team.
The race is on Saturday local time (Sunday NZT) with the women’s races from 6pm (3am NZT) and final race at 7pm (4am NZT) followed by the men starting at 8pm local (5am NZT) finishing by 9.20pm local (Sunday 6.20am NZT).
The race will be live on UCI Youtube
