The fourth Esports Cycling World Championship took place on October 26 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. For the first time, the finalists were gathered in the same place. Jacob Fraser, e-sport coordinator at the UCI, after working at Zwift and MyWoosh, talks about the future of this discipline for DirectVelo.
DirectVelo: What should we say e-sport or virtual cycling?
Jacob Fraser: Virtual cycling is what the platforms do, it’s what everyone does at home. E-sport cycling is the competitive version of virtual cycling. The UCI e-sport Cycling World Championship is the elite level of competition. But if you're at home and you use a home trainer with a platform or software, it's virtual cycling.
What is your professional background with the discipline?
I started working at Zwift 7 or 8 years ago now. I worked for them for about 4 years. Then I worked at MyWhoosh for 2 years as Director of Esports and Events. Then, when my contract with My Whoosh ended, I interviewed at the UCI to become their esports coordinator. And I have been lucky enough to have held this position for 2 years. When I was at Zwift, esports was just starting to grow. The Zwift community was really leading the charge at the time. In 2019, the UCI and Zwift entered into a partnership to develop races at the elite level, such as the World Championships in 2020. I contributed to this. In 2022, I was still at their house and helped organize the event. Then in 2023, I was at the UCI and I also participated in its organization. So I've been involved in esports cycling from the very beginning, in one way or another.
How was the love for this discipline born?
I have loved cycling my whole life. I think, like many of us in this business, we fell in love with cycling young, and it just became an integral part of our lives. Regarding esports specifically, when I worked at Zwift, a big question for companies was: what drives people to cycle indoors? Obviously, bad weather or nightfall, or if you have young children and you can't go out, for example, you start riding indoors. But I always found that my favorite version of cycling was racing. And when you're road running or mountain biking, there might only be one race a month in your area. If you're very lucky, maybe one race a week. But in virtual cycling, there are many races every hour. So when I used virtual cycling, instead of doing a workout or a group ride, I was always drawn to competitions. This is my favorite way to practice virtual cycling. And so, as esports grew, I was physically very slow, but very interested in competing on bikes. It was a great way for me to stay in shape. It's more fun for me. So I had the chance to work in a field that I deeply love.
“A SHOW FOR EVERYONE”
How do you assess the evolution of the discipline?
We are now in our fourth World Championship, the first in this format with a joint presentation. All the athletes participate together. This is the result of the work of many people who have been involved for a long time and who have helped the sport reach this level, as well as some partners like MyWhoosh. And I think the Championship was a spectacle for everyone. I think the progression of this sport has been strong in a very short time. There is still a lot to do for the UCI to take esports to the next level. But we are not finished.
What about the future?
If we had to do this World Championship again tomorrow, I'm sure we would make small changes. But with more time, we will be able to better control and influence some of the variables that this sport still needs to resolve. We are always concerned about the stability of the internet, the connection of trainers and all the elements inherent to e-sport cycling. This is not a criticism of anyone, but we just want to keep moving forward. Home trainers are very precise, but they could be even more precise. We always strive for perfection. And I think that's something very important for the discipline: to continue to improve, to include our partners from the national federations in the discussions, as well as the riders and the commercial partners. The UCI is very good at bringing people together to understand how to grow this sport.
“ALLOW RACING ON MULTIPLE PLATFORMS”
Can we expect the development of a series of competitions such as a cyclo-cross World Cup or Gravel Series under the UCI label?
Certainly, yes. I think for the World Championships we can expand the qualifying routes and periods. This would provide more opportunities for athletes to qualify. But as a global discipline, we could offer sanctioned races in the first place. You use gravel as a good example, or maybe road racing is the most obvious example. To organize a road race approved by the UCI, certain criteria must be respected. This does not yet exist for e-sport. And if so, it's very minimal. But we need to expand this to allow races on multiple platforms throughout the year that count as UCI sanctioned events. Platforms will still be free to organize their own races as they wish, but we can begin to offer a more comprehensive calendar of UCI-sanctioned races. From there, we could quickly move on to developing leagues, teams or tournaments. The industry is full of ideas on how to expand this into a commercially viable product. But first of all, as the UCI, we must establish the foundations: respect these criteria for a race to be approved, and thus guarantee fairness on all platforms.
Is it possible to organize a virtual Tour of Flanders on the same date or at the same time as the real Tour of Flanders?
If a platform or road race organizer, for example the Tour of Flanders, came to us to offer a virtual version at the same time, we would obviously be open to this discussion. This has not happened yet. I think ASO has done a great job with Zwift during the COVID period, with the virtual Tour de France. If I were a race organizer, which I am not, I would encourage virtual participation, because it is a way to increase the number of participants, attract more spectators, fans, and improve engagement numbers. If an organizing committee or a platform came to us, we could certainly help them realize this project, without a doubt.
“YOUNG PEOPLE ARE MORE CONNECTED TO E-SPORTS”
In terms of attractiveness, how do you evaluate this discipline so far?
She is still small. We will never seek to replace other disciplines. Virtual cycling as an activity is a solution between not cycling and riding outdoors. Maybe the weather is bad, or you're short on time. Maybe you're recovering from an injury. There are endless reasons why, instead of participating in a cyclocross or road race, you would normally choose not to ride a bike. But now virtual cycling is an option. For the UCI, e-sport is a way to get more people cycling, which is our goal as an international body: to get more people cycling.
Why is cycling e-sport interesting for the public?
From a visual point of view, we can control the narration, create graphic or visual elements like in a video game, which attracts attention. But I also think that interaction is the key. A spectator can become a participant. Let's take an example: you watch a race like the Tour of Flanders or Paris-Roubaix, but you can't go riding on those roads immediately. With esports, you can, in theory, hop on a trainer after a race is broadcast, load up the course, and have the exact same experience as the professionals. This creates a unique bond between spectators, fans and athletes. You can't do that in a lot of other sports. You can't play Wimbledon or Camp Nou after watching a tennis or football match. This is an incredible advantage that we need to exploit more. But I think it's also about reaching younger audiences. Young people today are much more connected to e-sport than to certain traditional disciplines. We therefore have the opportunity to use this discipline to attract a new, younger audience, passionate about technology. This can serve as a gateway to other cycling disciplines.
“AN EXCITING TIME FOR CYCLING”
And what about the level of the athletes?
We saw some very competitive races. The level seems to improve every year. We are starting to see real specialists in cycling e-sport emerge. These riders may not necessarily perform well on the road or in other disciplines, but they excel in this specific environment. In the future, we could see separate esports teams, sponsors dedicated to this format, and even professional careers built exclusively around esports. It will take time, but the current level is already very impressive, and it will only get better.
For you, e-sport is far from being at its peak…
I would just say that cycling e-sport is still growing, but it has huge potential. It provides opportunities to engage a wider audience, integrate technology into cycling, and enable more people to experience the sport, no matter where they are. This is an exciting time for cycling and for sport in general. We can’t wait to see where this takes us in the years to come.
