Taking place in the virtual world of Zwift on Saturday, February 18, the 2023 UCI Cycling Esports World Championship is one for firsts.
Racers will face an all-new format and courses in new territory. The racing will take place in the newly released Scotland map, which was created especially for the championships and takes inspiration from the Scottish landscape as well as Glasgow itself.
For the first time in the brief but storied history of the Cycling Esports World Championships, an American is likely to be among these three finishers.
“Does the US have a shot? Without a doubt, yes. The format for worlds plays well for our squads. The US team for men and women has one of the largest rosters in their races, and each is composed of 100% pure Zwift specialists. The size of our rosters and the Zwiftcraft of the riders give us a massive advantage,” says Matt Gardiner, one of three race directors for Team USA’s esports team.
2023 Esports Worlds – The Format
(Image credit: Zwift)
The Race Format
Unlike other, IRL, world championship events, the men’s and women’s races at the 2023 UCI Cycling Esports World Championship are identical.
Each field will enter the three-race gauntlet with 85 riders. The first round, called The Punch, will see the fields race to the finish in a punch but short, 13.8-kilometer race, in which only the top 30 score an entry to the second round.
The second race, aptly named The Climb, will see 30 riders tackle repeated hill climbs —162m of elevation gain in just 5.5 kilometres.
Only 10 go onto The Podium, an elimination racer which pits the racers against short, punchy climbs, in which one rider is eliminated through each segment archway until only three riders remain. These three will then battle it out to the finish.
Gardiner explains that Team USA’s large roster size will give them an advantage in the first two races:
“A significant component of success in The Punch will be luck, with the rest of the result coming down to game craft. All the athletes who made it to Worlds have the power to be there. Getting the timing and positioning right to find the top 30 and advance to The Climb will take a little luck and finesse.”
Team USA has the potential to start The Climb with multiple riders, which would give them “the ability to race tactically against riders who may be without teams. That race is an unknown so far, and it could be vary drastically based on who makes it to the start line. We’ll see once we get there!”
After two…