The UCI ESports World Championships crowned its 2024 rainbow jersey winners in October, with cycling stars such as Tadej Pogačar and Peter Sagan on hand to witness the historic first event held with a live audience. Sagan showed particular enthusiasm and could be seen growing increasingly enthralled by the burgeoning discipline.
The 34-year-old Slovak retired from the WorldTour at the end of 2023 after a long and storied career, which saw him win 12 individual stages at the Tour de France and the green points jersey on seven occasions. He also won three consecutive road world titles in 2015, 2016 and 2017. And among his long list of one-day race wins are the prestigious Paris-Roubaix and Tour of Flanders classics.
Following his road racing career, Sagan pivoted to his first love –mountain biking– while also taking on the role of brand ambassador for the virtual cycling platform MyWhoosh. Could esports be next for the 'The Hulk'?
"There's no point to just race in a World Championships in ecycling for 50th place, or maybe worse, or ten positions better," Peter Sagan dismissed during a press conference at the esports world championships, emphasizing that his presence in Abu Dhabi was merely ceremonial.
As a brand ambassador for the host of the event, Sagan took to the stage only to introduce the event alongside UAE Team Emirates' megastar Tadej Pogačar.
"No, I don't want to race anymore," he commented. "I will enjoy watching the World Championships tomorrow. But you won't see me racing anymore."
Yet, he did leave the door cracked open ever so slightly for the future with a "who knows?" and a shrug.
And while Sagan sat in the crowd, witnessing the 22 men, and 20 women compete for the fourth world title in the unique discipline's short history, an unexpected newfound fandom emerged.
As the 2024 edition of the championship's three-stage race unfolded, Sagan grew visibly more engaged. He didn’t have to stay the entire time, but he did, seemingly more excited by the competition than exchanging pleasantries.
By the final stage, he stood intently, eyes fixed on Jason Osborne, the eventual men's champion.
Was he having second thoughts about joining the growing list of pros who've extended their careers into virtual racing? Osborne himself just recently stepped away from WorldTour team Alpecin Deceuninck to focus solely on esports.
"No. I don't think so, but I know that the racers are training a lot and are good, and I'm not interested in competing with them because I know they are strong, and it doesn’t make sense to me. I did what I did and don't want to compare myself with anyone anymore," Sagan explained.
But his body language told a different story. This raises the question: if he lined up against the emerging discipline's stars, would he have what it takes to be competitive?
During Stage 2 of the 2024 esports world title campaign, Osborne powered away on the decisive climb, averaging an impressive 560W (8.3 w/kg) to crest the summit in 3:55, ultimately soloing to victory.
Sagan was never one to divulge his performance statistics but there's a paucity of published power data.
Interestingly, albeit unconfirmed, on July 3, 2012, The Athlete Clinic reported that he averaged 490W for the last 2.5 minutes of his 2013 Tour de France Stage One victory before going on to win the first of his eight consecutive Green Jerseys (not counting his 2017 disqualification).
The ~6.62 w/kg effort was almost two w/kg less than Osborne's but perhaps more impressive after five hours in the saddle and under strikingly different circumstances.
Equally impressive is Sagan's climb to Chieti, which set up his Stage 10 Giro d'Italia win in 2020, an early race effort of 440W (5.9 w/kg) for 21:30, as reported by Zach Nehr.
Cycling esports is a unique discipline; racers compete under different conditions. It's not an apples-to-apples comparison by any means, but the exceptional performances required to win are no different, and the athletes are continually raising the bar towards legitimacy and recognition.
"There are esports specialists," agreed Sagan, "I don't want to say it's a different sport, but you have to learn the platform. It's a skill to learn."
This distinction is crucial for an evolving discipline striving to establish its identity within the cycling world and emerge from doubt’s shadows.
MyWhoosh serves as the official indoor cycling platform for UAE Team Emirates and is the host of the UCI Cycling Esports World Championships for the next three years, with team principal Mauro Gianetti on its board. In collaboration with WorldTour team coaches, MyWhoosh developed a proprietary set of maximum performance data points.
Each athlete has predefined thresholds in the game based on pre-verification testing and data provided by MyWhoosh’s coaching team. If a rider who isn’t a WorldTour pro surpasses these thresholds, the system triggers an alert.
Belgian esports star Lionel Vujasin, the 2024 silver medalist who stood one step below Osborne on the podium, has dedicated his career entirely to esports since his high-profile CVR World Cup live event victory in Vancouver in 2018. Known for his pro-level performances, Vujasin has been triggering these alerts for years.
To dispel any doubt, MyWhoosh brought Vujasin and several other top riders to Abu Dhabi for in-house performance testing. Vujasin produced impressive results, delivering 453W (6.5 w/kg) for twelve minutes, 567W (8.1 w/kg) for three minutes, and 617W (8.8 w/kg) for two minutes.
For context, though we’ve established that direct comparisons are difficult, Oscar Onley recorded 556W (9 w/kg) for two minutes and 8 w/kg for over three minutes during Stage 2 of the 2024 Tour Down Under. Meanwhile, Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard averaged over 6.8 w/kg for twelve minutes on the Puy de Dôme during Stage 9 of the 2023 Tour de France.
Will Sagan step into the virtual arena in 2025? Probably not. Has he developed a newfound respect for the sport and its athletes, and maybe even become a fan? All signs point to yes.
"Someone is going to win," Sagan explains. "And every sport where you can win is important if you decide to do it. If somebody decides that they want to win this thing, that is important. It's like it is to win Paris Roubaix. It was important for me because I had always been committed and wanted to win. This is no different."
