Esports: Josh Harris to fly Aussie flag at new-look World Championships

This weekend, Josh Harris will don the green-and-gold stripes of the ARA Australian Cycling Team as our sole representative at the UCI Cycling Esports World Championships.

In his hometown of Launceston, it’ll be dark and quiet in the wee hours of Sunday morning. But Harris himself will be half a world away in Abu Dhabi, pedalling on a smart trainer alongside 21 other competitors at the live final.

The Tasmanian earned his finals berth by finishing 10th in last month’s semi-final.

It’ll be his second appearance at the World Championships, an event where Australia has enjoyed plenty of success. Sarah Gigante won silver at the first-ever Worlds in 2020, then Jay Vine won the rainbow bands in 2022 (with Freddy Ovett in second).

Those events, however, were contested on Zwift. In 2024, the UCI has taken the World Championships to a different platform, MyWhoosh, with a new three-stage format to match.

The stages

Stage 1, dubbed ‘The Sprint’, is the most radical addition to the event. Riders will have 15 minutes to set the fastest time on a 300-metre segment, which is part of a 1.6km circuit. The format will ring bells for fans of motorsport, where a similar system is used in qualification.

The fastest 20 riders will score points (from 20 points down to 1).

For Harris and his rivals, it’ll be a tricky balance of going for a top result and saving energy: repeated all-out sprints would hurt the legs when the big points hauls are still to come.

For the first time, MyWhoosh will host the UCI World Championships. (Image supplied)

Stage 2, nicknamed ‘The Strategist’, is a points race over a 9-kilometre course. There’s a testing four-minute climb on the course and, intriguingly, points will be awarded at the base and the top of the hill (20 points each for the first across the line), as well as double points at the finish line, which comes several kilometres after the descent (40 for the winner).

This same stage was used in the semi-finals, where Harris amassed 45 points to place fifth, so the Aussie will have his eyes on a good result here.

Stage 3, ‘All Out’, is another points race, this time over four laps of a 4km criterium circuit, with points at the end of each lap (20 points per lap, 40 points at the finish). The finish is at the top of a steep 12%, 50-second kicker.

With up to 100 points on offer in the finale, the result may hang in the balance until the very end.

What Josh said

Harris is modest about his goals for these World Championships.

“I don’t mind the format myself. Whether it suits me or not, I don’t think it does at all,” the 34-year-old said.

“Raw watts-wise, I’m probably one of the lighter riders in the final. I think the organiser has said a few times that he’s designed this format so a rider like Jay Vine can’t win. I probably fall into that same category of people that he doesn’t want to win. But tactical decisions can be made there.

“If I can execute numbers that I’m happy with in the races as well as make tactically savvy decisions, I think I can be happy regardless of what happens out there.”

Having devoted the last month specifically to preparing for Worlds, he will be aiming to step up for the final.

“In the semi-finals I got fifth in the first race, which is now the second race, so that’s the one where I really hope to shine,” Harris said.

“In the final race I was 16th. Sixteenth out of 100 is good, but now I’m 16th out of 20 … so, there’s got to be improvements or smart tactical decisions made in order to be at the real pointy end.

“Some of the factors of being in a live final could impact some athletes more than others. I certainly don’t go in expecting to win or anything, but if I can produce my best, I think it could be a pretty good result.”

Harris at the AusCycling Esports National Championships earlier this year. (Alex Polizzi)

Outside the racing, Harris is looking forward to meeting the world’s best riders – athletes he’s only ever encountered online.

“You’re going to get to meet everyone that you race against all the time; all the big figures that are interested and invested in cycling esports will be there.

“I had a great experience at our live final in Brisbane [at the AusCycling Esports National Championships]. I’m sure this will be the same but to an even bigger level.”

How to watch

The final of the 2024 UCI Cycling Esports World Championships will be streamed live on YouTube. You can find the stream at the UCI’s event hub.

Racing starts late on Saturday night at 1:00am AEDT (12:00am AEST, 12:30am ACDT, 10:00pm AWST).

Feature image: supplied