Zwift, the global online fitness platform for cyclists, has today confirmed Wahoo, Shimano and NTT as the Official Partners of the 2022 UCI Cycling Esports World Championships, which will be held on Zwift on February 26th 2022.
Wahoo is named Official Trainer Partner of the event, providing their latest Wahoo KICKR V5 Smart Trainer to all participants of the UCI Cycling Esports World Championships. All competitors will be competing remotely on the same equipment to provide an additional layer of event integrity.
“Building on our partnership with the UCI Road World Championships, we are delighted to support the 2022 UCI Cycling Esports World Championships,” said Mike Saturnia, CEO of Wahoo. “The demands of e-racing at this level require the most accurate and consistent data possible, so it’s only appropriate that all athletes competing in the finals will be riding a Wahoo KICKR, the world’s best-in-class smart trainer. We wish all the finalists the very best of luck and I’m looking forward to seeing who will be the newly crowned UCI World Champions!”
Shimano joins Wahoo as the Official Drivetrain Partner for the event with the new Shimano DURA-ACE R9200 Groupset, the ultimate road groupset both on the road and indoors. Shimano’s Science of Speed design philosophy for its latest road groupsets comprises five elements: a new Di2 platform, a refined shifting interface, their most advanced drivetrain, category redefining brake system, and a collection of new high-performance wheels.
“As a long-term partner of the UCI, we are very excited by the continued development of Cycling Esports,” said Erik van Kooten, Marketing manager Road at Shimano Europe. “Anyone who’s ever entered a Zwift race will know that every watt counts – they are at the forefront of the rider’s mind – so athletes need drivetrains that perform lightning-fast shifts accurately and efficiently for maximum power. We’re always fascinated by numbers and with live data coming from the riders, we look forward to studying the results – good luck to all participants.”
Building on their previous collaboration with Zwift Cycling Esports events, including the Virtual Tour de France and the Zwift Racing League, NTT joins as Official Data Analytics Partner to the UCI Cycling Esports World Championships. NTT will support the broadcast of the race, focusing on human endeavour, bringing the narrative of the race to life through data visualisation innovations, like the rider efficiency score introduced at the last UCI Cycling Esports World Championships.
“Our continuous intelligence platform has been optimised to deliver an unprecedented level of insight into riders’ performances during the UCI World Championships,” said Rob Webster Vice President, Advanced Technology Group, Sport at NTT. “By looking at the data generated by the competitors, we’ll be able to provide broadcasters and fans with a deeper understanding of how the races unfold.”
All partners of the UCI Cycling Esports World Championships will be running in-game activations in the lead up to the event.
The UCI Cycling Esports World Championships will be held on 26th February on Zwift’s New York Map. Racers will tackle the Knickerbocker route, a challenging parcours worthy of a UCI World Championship event. Once again, field size, broadcast exposure, race distance and prize money will be equal for both Men’s and Women’s races.
