The Irish team set to represent the country in the UCI Cycling eSports World Championships tomorrow, Saturday, have been making their final preparations and say they are looking forward to getting stuck in. Linda Kelly, Chris Dawson, Richard Barry, Heather Foley and Imogen Cotter all sounded up for the fight in their pre-championships interviews, while adopted Irishman Matteo Cigala is representing his native Italy.
Barry was especially looking forward to gathering with the British team in Glasgow and competing with them in-person, rather than remotely, for the first time. Members of the public will get an opportunity to watch the riders competing in-person in Glasgow while other spectators around the world can tune into the racing live as it is being broadcast on YouTube.
"I'm really excited to represent Ireland again in the eSports World Championships especially as I will be racing at the live in person event in Glasgow," said Barry, a top tier rider in both eRacing and cyclocross.
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"This brings an extra level of excitement and the added element of seeing other riders behind their avatars. The buzz of the crowd will also bring some extra energy and I hope I can use this to progress as far as possible in the elimination race format."
For Cotter, the championships are perhaps a bigger career juncture than for most of the other riders selected by their nations around the world. She suffered a career-threatening crash in Girona at the start of last year and was lucky to survive when hit head-on by an oncoming driver in a van.
She was selected for the eSports Worlds last year but her crash ruled her out. Since then she has faced multiple surgeries and months of rehab. But she will be back in the green of Ireland this weekend, after a wild card invite from Zwift, meaning there is a sense of coming full circle for her.
Cotter said: "This year I’m finally able to get to the start line and in one piece which is very nice," said Cotter. "I think this weekend's format with the three different races will make it a bit more interesting because it gives different opportunities.
"The second race is quite hilly which is good for climbers, the first race you’ve got a punchy finish and the last race will just be torture for whoever gets to the third round. I’m looking forward to seeing what I can do, my numbers are looking pretty good."
Dawson - the national champion and a very experienced campaigner who now has his own eRacing team, Dawson Racing - said he was "super excited" to represent Ireland again and really looking forward to the world title races.
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"This will be my third year racing the UCI eSports Worlds. It’s a totally different format this year, one that I’ve tried out a couple of times on the Zwift GP series and I personally think it will make for super exciting racing," he said.
"We have a strong squad here, everyone is in good form and we’ve all been studying the course and sharing tips and tricks. I think we stand as good a chance as any of the other countries in doing well. My personal ambitions are just to do as well as I can, execute the race plan, get through to race two and leave it all on the line in race two to make it into that top 10 and it’s just a lottery then for that final race to duke it out for that rainbow jersey."
Linda Kelly, a medalist at the National Road Championships and a tandem pilot on the Irish cycling team, said she had been racing more on Zwift as she prepared for action this weekend. This included "back-to-back racing during my indoor sessions".
"The Zwift races are great for preparing you for these types of events where you can get used to those sudden attacks, practice when and where to use the power-ups and staying focused on what’s happening around you," she said. "Like a road event it is hugely beneficial to familiarise yourself with the course beforehand. Luckily, we have had the chance to train on the course and know how to approach them.”
For Heather Foley, who has represented Ireland on the road and track during her career, this weekend's racing is a change of scene as she has been focusing on triathlon in recent years. But she believed her cycling experience, of which she has plenty, will stand her in good stead tomorrow.
"Having previously raced on the track and road for Ireland, this has been a completely different challenge to rise to. I'm grateful to have had the guidance from Tommy Evans (Irish team manager) in the build up to the event and I'm both excited and nervous but ready to give my all in Saturday's eSports World Championships."
You can watch the racing live on Zwift's YouTube channel and Eurosport from 6pm or the UCI website from 6.15pm. The men's race kicks off at 6.15pm with the women's race set to get underway at 7.45pm.
This year's Worlds will consist of three short and explosive events: The Punch, The Climb and The Podium. They will be contested on three separate routes on an all-new Scotland map built specifically for the Championships. The new elimination format will see only the top 30 in the men's and women's 'Punch' race progress to the next race, the 'Climb' with the top 10 from that race competing for the win in the 'Podium' race.
