Two New Zealand riders, Ella Harris and Ollie Jones, will line-up this week in the inaugural UCI Esports World Championships, all from their own homes.
They are among 132 riders, including some of the biggest names in the sport, who will compete in the Zwift online world on Thursday (NZ time).
The event was signalled by the UCI last year, with the men’s and women’s field comprising riders from 20 international federations, taking on the 50km course.
Harris and Jones are well versed in the Zwift environment, with both former winners of Zwift’s global academy programme against more than 9000 riders, which earned them professional contracts. Harris, who has had a challenging year after breaking her femur, has been one of the emerging young talents for the women’s World Tour team, Canyon-SRAM.
The 50km course takes in a figure-eight course which is set on the fictional Zwift island of Watopia, with a total elevation gain of 483m with the race finishing on top of the climb.
The route is one used regularly by Zwift with its indoor online programmes carried out on turbo trainers booming this year with the Covid-10 pandemic. The event includes two Zwift powerups that riders can utilise during the race – the Lightweight powerup which reduces your weight by 10 per cent for 15 seconds to help on climbs and the Aero powerup which makes the rider more aerodynamic for 15 seconds to aid a sprint.
Each rider will be on an even playing field, each having received an identical smart trainer with standardised equipment also.
Harris recently returned from her European base, riding Zwift each day during hotel quarantine, although this comes in her off-season downtime.
“I’m not entirely sure how I’ll go in the race. I don’t have high hopes for myself at all. But if I can get around that would be nice.”
One of the challenges for those in the Southern Hemisphere is that the race is in the early hours of the morning.
The race, which carries an approximate NZ$ 14,000 first prize, has drawn some star-studded riders including two-time road world champion Anna van der Breggen and fellow Dutch world champions Kirsten Wild and Lisa Brennauer, mountain bike world champion Annika Langvad, super-star paralympian Sarah Storey among others. The men include World Tour stars Rigoberto Uran, Thomas de Gendt and 2019 Tour of Flanders winner Alberto Bettiol among many topline professionals.
The races will be streamed live in New Zealand on SKY Sport 3 and on Zwift's Youtube and Facebook channels with the women racing at 2.40am NZT and men at 3.45am on Thursday NZ Time.
CAPTION: Ella Harris in action at the 2019 UCI Road World Championships. (Photo: Robert Jones).
Details: www.cyclingnewzealand.nz