The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) and its partner MyWhoosh are pleased to announce the innovative competition format for the Final of the 2026 UCI Cycling Esports World Championships. The event, originally scheduled for 12 December, will now take place a week earlier, on 5 December, in Copenhagen (Denmark).
The Final will be a points race held over two stages. In this new format, riders will have to react quickly to points opportunities announced at the last moment, then choose between two routes with different profiles and points scales. The race could swing at any time, with every decision potentially shaping the final result. The titles in the Men Elite and Women Elite categories will go to the athletes who score the most points, with points from both stages added together. In other words, this year, crossing the finish line first will not be enough to win the UCI World Champion title.
Stage 1: surge checkpoints
The first stage will cover 7.6km and include five “surge checkpoints”. Their locations will not be revealed in advance: riders will only be alerted 500m before each checkpoint. All riders in the same race will receive the same checkpoint activations, and the first ten across each scoring line will earn points. This creates a constant tactical dilemma: move to the front early and spend extra energy, or wait until the last moment to make the effort and risk running out of road to close the gap? Finalists will need to stay alert, make repeated accelerations and recover quickly between efforts.
Stage 2: points race with route choice
The second stage will be raced over four 5km laps, for a total of 20km. On each lap, 400m before a fork, each rider will choose between two routes of equal distance: a flatter route that offers fewer points, or a hillier route that offers more points but costs more energy.
Each route will have its own sprint checkpoint. When the two routes meet, riders will contest a common sprint checkpoint. Each lap will therefore offer two chances to score points, making eight in total across the stage.
On the final lap, the finish line will also serve as the final sprint checkpoint, offering double points. If a rider does not choose a route, they will automatically be assigned the flat one.
The Final in Copenhagen will be held in a dedicated esports studio. It will bring all participants together in one venue, creating a purpose-built environment for live broadcast. This replaces the originally planned two-venue format and will make travel simpler for all stakeholders.
A maximum of 36 athletes (18 men and 18 women) will compete in the final, having qualified through a pathway comprising National Federation and MyWhoosh events, then a semi-final held on 2 October that brought together more than 100 athletes of each gender. All finalists will compete on ELITE Justo 2 smart trainers, with each unit individually prepared and checked by ELITE for the UCI Cycling Esports World Championships. This standardised set-up is designed to give every rider the same hardware and to ensure a racing and power-measurement environment that is as consistent as possible across the field.
UCI President David Lappartient said: “The UCI Cycling Esports World Championships innovate again in 2026 with a new and exciting format. Thanks to our partnership with MyWhoosh, we continue to provide new challenges and surprises to test the finalists, who have already come through a tough qualification process. They will need to demonstrate both physical strength and tactical acumen to be in with a chance of taking the ultimate honours and the prestigious rainbow jersey of UCI World Champion.”
Matt Smithson, Director of Esports & Game Operations at MyWhoosh, said: “We wanted this year’s format to ask more of riders than simply producing the biggest numbers. The surprise checkpoints and route choices mean they have to read the race, make decisions under pressure and decide when it is worth spending energy for points. That should create a much more dynamic Championships and, crucially, a format that makes full use of what cycling esports can do rather than simply recreating a road race in a virtual environment.”