New Zealand’s Kate McCarthy dominated to claim back-to-back elite women’s titles at the 2025 UCI Cycling Esports World Championships, winning the first two of three stages of the race held live in Abu Dhabi.
Gabriella Guerra of Brazil claimed the silver medal, a position she established in the first stage.
The bronze medal was decided in the third and final stage, in a heated duel between Italy’s Francesca Tommasi and Sweden’s Camilla Ahlberg with the Italian coming on top with one point in the final sprint.
“I don’t think I was aiming to crush anyone’s spirits. You know, I was aiming to show what I can do at that first climb and then hopefully hang on for the next two stages,” McCarthy said.
“It’s sort of brings a different element to it, but it’s wicked because we don’t see each other. We don’t get to see how everyone races, what everyone looks like. So it’s cool to bring it all together and you get to race each other in person.
“Honestly, I’m not sure yet,” she replied when asked what it means to be a two-time world champion.
“I’m still kind of letting it sink in. I was so wrapped with last year and the year I’ve had so to get this is like I couldn’t have had a better year.”
McCarthy finished with 597 points, 72 points head of second-place Guerra. Tommasi garnered 487 points for third place, one point ahead of Ahlberg. Germany’s Merle Brunnée finished fifth with 442 points.
The 2025 UCI Cycling Esports World Championships finale unfolded across three distinct stages, each crafted to challenge every dimension of a rider’s power, strategy, and endurance. The competition opened with Mountain’s Verdict, a punishing uphill test, followed by Puncher’s Playground, a dynamic course blending sprint and climb segments. It all concluded with Sprinter’s Paradise, an eight-lap battle around a fast 1.5 km criterium circuit.
Twenty-two finalists raced shoulder to shoulder in a live arena in Abu Dhabi, competing on the MyWhoosh platform.
The championships employed a points-based scoring format, with all riders starting at zero. Strategy revolved around getting the right balance between scoring aggressively and managing recovery across the three stages.
McCarthy dominated in the first stage, the Mountain’s…
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