UCI Esports World Champs: Osborne and McCarthy Prevail

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Former Olympic rowing medalist Jason Osborne took the second UCI esports world championships of his career Saturday, racing to an impressive victory in the final in Abu Dhabi.

The German rider showed he remains a focused competitor despite retiring from a WorldTour contract with Alpecin-Deceuninck in September.

The decision was based in part on injury but also on a lack of enjoyment of road racing.

Osborne has no such hesitancy about esports, with that becoming a major focus once more. He won his first world title in the discipline back in 2020.

“At first when the races got published, I was like, ‘does it really suit me?’” he said, speaking of the format.

“Also, not having had the best semi-finals, I went into this pretty thoughtful and I didn’t know what to expect.

“But in the last few weeks I really was gaining good form and I was quite confident going into this.”

That confidence certainly showed during the event, with his aggressive racing seeing him end up besting Belgian rider Lionel Vujasin by three points and Kasper Borremans (Finland) by 13.

Denmark’s Bjoern Andreassen (Denmark) was fourth, one place ahead of the best US rider Hayden Pucker.

Pucker was prominent in the first of the three events, the sprint race. Based on the fastest time over 300 meters, he was second behind compatriot Neal Fryett and one place ahead of another US rider, Zach Nehr.

They held the top three slots heading into race two, titled The Strategist. This featured a 1km climb on a 9km circuit, with points on offer at the base of the climb, at the summit and again at the finish. Double points were awarded at this third location.

Aggressive racing leads to rainbow jersey

Velo coaching contributor Nehr was again in the thick of the action, taking second in the first of those three sprints behind South African James Barnes. Vujasin and Osborne were next to the line.

The latter attacked on the climb and took top points at the summit, several seconds ahead of Vujasin and Andreassen. Osborne then continued onwards alone to nab the final sprint, which offered double points and left him poised just six points behind the overall leader Vujasin.

The third and final event was the Flat Out race, a four lap contest held over a four kilometer criterium circuit. Points were on offer each time around, with double points again available on the final lap.

Osborne repeated his tactic from race two, biding his time in the first sprint and then striking out alone to scoop primes two, three and four. Hitting ten watts per kilo on the short climb, he was over 40 seconds clear heading to the finish and to what is the second esports championship win of his career.

US rider Pucker was out front on the final ramp but was overhauled inside the final 200 meters, with Borremans and Vujasin battling it out for second.

The latter secured the silver medal overall, while Borremans completed the third step of the podium.

“I am pretty tired, but happy,” said Vujasin.

It was the first time for the esports world championships to be run off with all the competitors in the same location, something he saw as a plus.

“It was quite different because you can feel the crowd pushing and the atmosphere,” he explained. “And you can check your competitors sometimes, so you get a better idea than when you are at home.”

Borremans said his tactical approach was a simple one.

“I didn’t have a strategy, just follow the good guys and see what happened.”

Pucker ended up fifth in the contest, with Fryett and Nehr 14th and 18th overall. Canadian Thomas Thrall was 12th.

UCI Esports world championships – men:

1, Jason Osborne (Germany) 177 points
2, Lionel Vujasin (Belgium) 174
3, Kasper Borremans (Finland) 164
4, Bjoern Andreassen (Denmark) 154
5, Hayden Pucker (USA) 145
6, Vidar Mehl (Norway) 133
7, Michal Kaminski (Poland) 127
8, Joshua Harris (Australia) 112
9, Ollie Jones (New Zealand) 110
10, Daniel Turek (Czech Republic) 107

Other:

12, Thomas Thrall (CAN) 84
14, Neal Fryett (USA) 77
18, Zach Nehr (USA) 55

McCarthy triumphant in close women’s contest

The women’s event was also a close one, in terms of final points tally. New Zealand’s Mary Kate McCarthy took gold in the women’s event, winning out in a tense battle with Brazil’s Gabriela Guerra.

The race was decided in the final sprint of the concluding event, and saw McCarthy prevail by four points. The Swiss competitor Kathrin Fuhrer was 15 points back, securing the bronze.

McCarthy opened an early lead in the Sprint Race.

“I just knew that I had to come in from the back because there was plenty of draft coming through,” she explained of her tactics. “Me and [British rider] Lou Bates drifted right off the back and sprinted through. I just got her in the end, so it was good.”

She was challenged strongly by Guerra in the following round, The Strategist. Bates played her hand prior to the first sprint but was beaten by US rider Ellexi Snover. McCarthy then attacked hard and took a lead onto the climb, but was overhauled at the top by Guerra.

Those two continued onwards to the finish, with Guerra again beating her rival in the sprint and marking herself out as the big challenger. Third place went to Merle Brunnee (Germany) with Maria Holdcroft (Great Britain) fourth and Kirsten Kulchinsky (USA) fifth.

The combined total heading into the final race saw McCarthy first on 89 points, seven more than Bates and eight ahead of Guerra. However there were ample opportunities for scoring in the concluding Flat Out event.

Fuhrer won the first two of the primes but Guerra’s second place on lap two plus her victory in the third sprint saw her move to just two points behind McCarthy.

Her advancement left everything to race for on the final lap, with the New Zealand rider going clear with her rival on the final climb and winning the flat-out sprint to the line.

‘Really tough racing back to back’

“I think the mental game is everything in esports,” McCarthy said after her triumph.

“It is being able to push back what you think you can do, how far you can actually push and how hard you can go.”

Both she and Guerra agreed that competing in the same room as the other riders was a big plus.

“I was very looking forward to racing in the arena with all the athletes,” the Brazilian said. “We are all the same room, the same conditions, and all on the same trainers. So that was a really nice experience.

“The very challenging thing about e sports is you have to keep power on all the time, you never stop pedaling. I race outdoors as well and it is very different. It is a very, very tough sport.”

She said the three race format with tight time gaps between events meant that recovery was vital.

“I had to calm myself down a lot, and find my legs again. It is really tough racing back to back like that,” she said.

“You have to learn the game, the dynamics, and also how your power interacts with the game.”

For Fuhrer, the explosive format was the biggest challenge.

“The roads in Switzerland back home are a little bit longer than this punchy route,” she explained. “So it is just really hard, especially this last race, four times of about one minute all out.

“I had my tongue on the handlebars, I just went all out.”

UCI Esports world championships women:

1, Mary Kate McCarthy (New Zealand) 180 points
2, Gabriela Guerra (Brazil) 176
3, Kathrin Fuhrer (Switzerland) 165
4, Maria Holdcroft (Great Britain) 156
5, Lou Bates (Great Britain) 156
6, Mika Söderström (Sweden) 145
7, Merle Brunnée (Germany) 145
8, Emma Julie Dyrhovden (Norway) 110
9, Kristen Kulchinsky (USA) 107
10, Emma Belforth (Sweden) 101

Other:

11, Jacqueline Godbe (USA) 87
13, Ellexi Snover (USA) 83
17, Tiffany Penner (Canada) 57