2025 UCI Cycling Esports World Championships: Osborne and McCarthy build legacies

Defending UCI World Champions retain titles

The fifth edition of the UCI Cycling Esports World Championships crowned defending winners Mary Kate McCarthy (New Zealand) and Jason Osborne (Germany) on Saturday 15 November 2025. McCarthy takes her second title while it’s the third for Osborne, who has featured on the podium in every edition of the event: winner in 2020, 2024 and 2025, runner-up in 2023 and bronze medallist in 2022.

The 2025 rainbow jerseys were awarded after an intense in-person final held in Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates), where 22 women and 22 men battled in a custom-built virtual world on the MyWhoosh platform. The contenders raced on Elite Justo 2 smart trainers that had been verified by the UCI to ensure fairness and accuracy of the competition.

McCarthy dominates from the start

The three stages of the event in Abu Dhabi were designed to test the riders’ physical, tactical and mental abilities with varied challenges. But no matter the race configuration, there was no dethroning defending UCI World Champion McCarthy, who was eventually crowned with a tally of 597 points. Just like she did in 2024, Brazil’s Gabriella Guerra took silver (525 points). Italy’s Francesca Tommasi rounded out the podium with 478 points.

As the gradient increased in the 8.4km first stage, Mountain’s Verdict, to hit double figures, McCarthy thrashed the field, pushing over 7 watts/kg to separate herself from rivals gradually caught by the chase line that marked their elimination from the stage. Sweden’s Anna Svärdström was the first rider out, after just over 13 minutes of effort, with other riders following suit. Brazil’s Gabriela Guerra resisted four more minutes than Svärdström to come second, while McCarthy was eventually caught by the chase line after 19’35’’ of racing. She already had a 28-point margin over her first chaser: 235 to Guerra’s 207.

McCarthy increased the pressure on the second stage, the Puncher’s Playground, where points were awarded at five checkpoints throughout the 12km loop. The New Zealander made the most of the gradients to go solo at the front and dominate the event, head and shoulders ahead of Guerra and Tommasi. Second at the first checkpoint, the New Zealander then took maximum points, pushing her tally to 433 points. Ahead of the Sprinter’s Paradise, Guerra trailed by 48 points and Tommasi by 68.

McCarthy sealed the deal in the intense final stage comprising eight short laps and as many sprints, with points up for grabs at each sprint. Guerra secured silver while a furious battle unfolded for the final spot on the podium. Sweden’s Camila Ahlberg put the hammer down and moved up to third position, but Tommasi reacted by winning the final sprint – where double points were awarded – to snatch bronze with only a single point difference.

“I was aiming to show what I can do up that first climb and then hopefully hang on for the next two stages,” McCarthy explained. “It meant everything [to have my relatives supporting me in Abu Dhabi]. It’s really cool to race each other in person.”

Osborne ramps up as stages progress

Jason Osborne dominated the men’s competition to secure his third rainbow jersey - and fifth medal - to go along with the medals he previously claimed as a rower, including silver at the Tokyo Olympic Games. The German athlete claimed 564 points to secure victory ahead of Poland’s Michał Kamiński (493 points) and Belgium’s Lennert Teugels (468 points).

In the Mountain’s Verdict, Osborne was alone after just over 17 minutes of racing. He was eventually caught by the chase line after 18’28’’ of racing, as the gradient hit 17.6%, a performance granting him 221 points, 15 more than Poland’s Paweł Ścierski. Teugels followed with 199 points, one of six riders within 11 points of Osborne, setting the scene for more intense battling in the Puncher’s Playground.

Early in the second stage, Czechia’s Daniel Turek successfully anticipated the first sprint, Norway’s Njål Pedersen emulated him in the second one, and Ścierski followed in their wake to provisionally lead the standings. But Osborne made the most of the gradients, going first atop the two climbs of the Puncher’s Playground and pressing solo all the way to the finish to bring his tally up to 389 points. Ścierski reduced the gap (376 points) and a fierce battle for the podium was shaping up with Teugels (363 points) closely followed by Kamiński (360 points).

Osborne turned the Sprinter’s Paradise into a sufferfest as he attacked on lap two. The German star put everyone at their limit, escaped with Belgium’s Lionel Vujasin and raised three fingers in the air as he sealed his overall triumph.

“To be honest, I was not really happy with stage 1 because I couldn’t put the same gap I had in the semis, [held virtually on 3 October]” Osborne said. “I wasn’t feeling that great but on stage 2 I could really push on and then it just got better each stage. On stage 3, I went on the front with Lionel Vujasin and we worked well together.”