MyWhoosh to host UCI Cycling Esports World Championships, taking over from Zwift for next three years

MyWhoosh, the virtual cycling platform, has announced an exclusive three-year partnership with the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to host the UCI Cycling Esports World Championships for 2024, 2025, and 2026. This marks the event's departure from rival virtual cycling platform Zwift, which has hosted the Esports Championships since its inaugural year in 2020.

"MyWhoosh and UCI will be working closely to organise the UCI Cycling Esports World Championships with firm race control mechanisms. This collaboration signifies a transformative era for MyWhoosh and the realm of cycling esports, bringing all the benefits and excitement of competitive cycling into homes across the world," said Akhtar Saeed Hashmi, CEO and Managing Director of MyWhoosh. 

The UCI Cycling Esports World Championships, orchestrated by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) since 2020, merges virtual cycling with the realm of competitive sports. Since its implementation into the racing calendar, it has been hosted on another virtual cycling platform Zwift. MyWhoosh, having secured the hosting rights, is now poised to finalise the details of the event and is "aiming to transform the event into an immersive, engaging global event".

> Is free-to-use MyWhoosh now a rival to Zwift? 

Since its launch in 2019, MyWhoosh has been steadily increasing its influence among the virtual cycling platforms. In April this year, it hosted the inaugural Race Championship Series, which boasted a prize pool exceeding $1 million. The platform also recently unveiled its first European virtual world, nestled in Belgium.

"Today’s announcement further confirms Abu Dhabi’s commitment to our sport after it hosted a magnificent edition of the UCI Urban Cycling World Championships in 2022. The city will again welcome this event in 2024, as well as the UCI Road World Championships and the UCI Gran Fondo World Championships in 2028 and the UCI Track World Championships in 2029. The next three editions of the UCI Cycling Esports World Championships add to Abu Dhabi’s reputation as host of top-class cycling events,” the UCI President, David Lappartient, said. 

> The virtual journey to the first live UCI Cycling Esports World Championships

MyWhoosh was founded in 2019 in Abu Dhabi, UAE, and is a free-to-use virtual cycling service comprising several 'worlds', over 730 tailored workout plans and weekly competitive races.