On November 27 and 28, the Pan American qualification race for the 2022 UCI esports cycling world championships was hosted on Zwift, on the Watopia Figure 8 route. The top six places in each of the men’s and women’s races earned automatic qualification for the world championships in late February. Team Twenty-24’s Shayna Powless won the women’s race, and VeloNews columnist Zach Nehr (NeXT pb Enshored) took the win in the men’s event.

Those who did not make the top six have a few additional opportunities to qualify for the world championships. For U.S. racers, this means petitioning to be named to Team USA, based on previous performances. Or, athletes can participate in another race-off, on December 11th, on the RGT platform.

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Road to UCI e-worlds — USA Cycling offers spots to winners of RGT race Who can qualify for the 2022 esports world championships on Zwift

You read that correctly: Those wanting to race at Zwift worlds will first need to race — and win — on the RGT platform. This is significant because the virtual cycling platforms are substantially different from one another.

“RGT is so much punchier, with the braking, corners, collision avoidance, and drafting algorithms,” Nehr told VeloNews. “I’ve ridden and raced on both RGT and Zwift, and both platforms have their benefits and drawbacks.”

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