CALLING ALL THE HEROES
‘Would-be super-rich cycling megastars wanted – apply within.”
Oh, you haven’t heard? Cycling e-sports is here to save bike racing and it’s in need of heroes. Big thighs a requirement.
OK, so calling cycling e-sports – also known as virtual cycling, e-racing and often, in a Hoover-equals-vacuum type way, Zwifting – the saviour of cycling could be something of a stretch. But anyone who thought Zwift and its fellow virtual cycling platforms were simply a way of passing the time while on lockdown is in for a surprise.
It is also a new and exciting blank canvas which carries a fraction of the cost and time commitments of traditional road racing, with endless content opportunities via the social media accounts of young and eager millennials. For teams, sponsors, and riders wanting to emulate their ‘Call of Duty’ e-sports brethren with their seven-figure earnings, what’s not to like?
“We have a better team for virtual cycling because they are created for that”
“I’m pretty sure that in two years’ time, all the WorldTour teams will have their own e-sports division,” says Movistar CMO Juan Pablo Molinero. The Spanish team have just become the first WT outfit to set up their own ‘Eteam’, which
