UCI Cycling Esports World Championships: Andreassen and Adegeest take glory in virtual Glasgow

A new “Battle Royale” format!

A new “Battle Royale” format for this year’s UCI Cycling Esports World Championships saw Denmark’s Bjorn Andreassen take victory in the men’s race and the Netherlands’ Loes Adegeest successfully defend her rainbow jersey.

Andreassen’s brilliant solo

The 85 male riders chasing the rainbow jersey in Zwift’s virtual Glasgow kicked off the event with The Punch, a 14.2km effort featuring two climbs from which 30 riders would qualify for the next race.

A six-man break emerged with a small gap… but they were reeled in just ahead of the final sprint, where most riders dropped their Burrito PowerUp to prevent their rivals from drafting. Germany’s Marc Mading came first, just ahead of Norway’s Haavard Gjeldnes. Germany’s Jason Osborne (winner in 2020 and bronze medallist in 2022) was already up there (3rd). Meanwhile, Australia’s Freddy Ovett narrowly made the cut (25th) but Belgium’s Victor Campeanerts (32nd) did not go through to the next round.

The intensity kept increasing as the qualified riders soon moved on to The Climb. Belgium’s Rinus Verhelle opened up the action on the penultimate ascent of the race, but was caught inside the last 3km by a raging bunch making the most of their Anvil PowerUp (adding 50kg to a rider on downhill sections) ahead of the last climb to the line.

Argentina’s Leandro Messineo moved forward on the final ascent but was caught in the uphill sprint. Jason Osborne hit 13.5 watts/kg to power to P1 and qualify for The Podium alongside his nine fastest pursuers.

The Podium was raced on the 3km Glasgow Crit Circuit featuring two arches: up the Clyde Kicker climb (0.3km at 3.1%, max gradient of 9%) and at the end of each lap. At each passage under an arch, the last rider would be eliminated until it came down to a three-way battle for the medals.

Bjorn Andreassen was not willing to wait - he attacked from the start! Behind him, USA’s Zach Nehr was the first rider to be eliminated, followed by Denmark’s Oskar Hvid, South Africa’s James Barnes, Haavard Gjeldnes and Freddy Ovett.

Five riders were still in the mix, and Andreassen was still 12’’ ahead of his rivals. After Belgium’s Kjell Power was eliminated, the defending cycling esports UCI World Champion Jason Osborne got the better of Norway’s Anders Foldager (runner-up in 2020) to secure a podium spot. He eventually took silver ahead of his compatriot Mading as no-one was able to get back to Andreassen!

“I’m dead, I’m lost for words actually,” the new UCI World Champion said. “The attack from the start is my signature move. I can get a gap early, nobody really wants to follow in the start. I kept going as long as I could. After the last sprint, I could see the gap was big enough to hold it to the finish line. It’s just crazy.”

Adegeest doubles up

After a short break, it was time for the women’s peloton (87 riders) to light more fireworks in Zwift’s virtual Glasgow.

Their first event, The Punch, came down to an uphill sprint which was dominated by the USA’s Jacquie Godbe with a 1’’ gap to the rest of the field, led by Sweden’s Mika Söderstrström and Great Britain’s Zoe Langham (bronze medallist in 2022). Defending UCI World Champion Loes Adegeest was well positioned (6th), just ahead of Germany’s Tanja Erath (7th), a former winner of the Zwift Academy.

British riders moved to the front positions just ahead of the final ascent of The Climb, after which 10 riders were set to participate in The Podium. But it was the Adegeest who moved past everyone to win the race ahead of the USA’s Kristen Kulchinsky and Langham.

Onto The Podium, Kulchinsky suffered a surprise early elimination (9th), and her American compatriot Liz Van Houweling went the same way (8th). Sprints continued, with riders regularly hitting figures above 10 watts/kg, until France’s Sandrine Étienne was eliminated in P4.

Three riders remained in contention with a final sprint to decide who would become the 2023 UCI World Champion: Adegeest, Langham and Godbe. And the 2022 winner Adegeest delivered again, with a performance reflecting her strong start to the season on the road.

She is the first rider to take two victories in the UCI Cycling Esports World Championships. Langham took the silver medal (one step above her 3rd place in 2022) and Godbe rounded out the podium.

2023 UCI Cycling Esports World Championships results