Zwift Games competition set to be the "biggest cycling esports competition to date"
(Image credit: Zwift)
Zwift has today announced the news of a brand new e-sports event to rival the UCI World Championships. Called The Zwift Games, the new event will see men's and women's champions crowned across three different disciplines as well as overall male and female champions with an equal share of what Zwift claims will be its biggest-ever prize purse.
According to Zwift, the Zwift Games will be open to all cyclists and will provide an open qualification pathway to the Zwift Games elite finals which will be held in the first half of March 2024, with qualification races for the finals taking place in February 2024.
We covered the news back in August that Zwift would no longer host the UCI Cycling Esports World Championships, after Abu Dhabi-based cycling app MyWhoosh emerged victorious from the tender process. MyWhoosh will host the championships through to 2026.
At the time, Zwift said it would continue to create top-level events and the Zwift Games looks to be proof of this claim.
Any Zwifter from around the world will be able to enter the championship events. But Zwift says riders can also enter community events linked to each championship if they aren't interested in competing for overall titles. The brand says having such an open competition promises to make the Zwift Games the most democratic cycling championships ever held.
(Image credit: Zwift)
The Zwift Games will be comprised of three championship races:
The Sprint Championship - Is said to have taken the best elements of the Zwift Battle Royale which was rolled out for the 2023 Esports Worlds. Riders will compete in several events back to back. The qualifiers will be open to all Zwift riders and top finishers will progress to the finals.
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The Epic Championship - This race will be at least 60 kilometres long and according to Zwift will "test every facet of competitors' resolve." It will use the Coastal Causeway route as well as a brand new route. A community event will take place at the same time as the championship and any Zwifter can participate in either event, creating what Zwift says may be the world's largest cycling esports event.
The Hill Climb Championship - The hill climb championship will aim to establish who is the best cycling Esports climber by giving racers the opportunity to race up the whole of Alpe du Zwift. There will also be a community challenge which includes the Alpe as well as other climbs.
Race distances will be equal for men and women and prize money will also be split equally.
More details including exact date and event specifics will be shared by Zwift in December.
Tom joined the Cyclingnews team in late 2022 as a tech writer. Despite having a degree in English Literature he has spent his entire working life in the cycling industry in one form or another. He has over 10 years of experience as a qualified mechanic, with the last five years before joining Cyclingnews being spent running an independent workshop. This means he is just as happy tinkering away in the garage as he is out on the road bike, and he isn’t afraid to pull a bike apart or get hands-on with it when testing to really see what it’s made of.
He has ridden and raced bikes from an early age up to a national level on the road and track, and has ridden and competed in most disciplines. He has a keen eye for pro-team tech and enjoys spotting new or interesting components in the wild. During his time at Cyclingnews, Tom has already interviewed some of the sport's biggest names including Mathieu van der Poel, Tadej Pogačar and Alberto Contador. He's also covered various launches from brands such as Pinarello, Ridley, Specialized and more, tackled the Roubaix Challenge sportive aboard his own rim-brake Cannondale SuperSix Evo, tested over 20 aero helmets in the wind tunnel, and has created helpful in-depth buying advice relating to countless categories from torque wrenches to winter clothing.
